The Rose and the Figure Skater
by SquiddlesScribbles
Summary: As a figure skater, Ahiru has always had a history of shortcomings. When she's forced to team up with another figure skater in the same situation as her, will their combined efforts be enough to win gold in the Olympics?
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

Growing up, Ahiru had always admired her older sister. How could she not? Her sister was beautiful, graceful, and poised. Even at a young age, she was everything that Ahiru wanted to be.

So, when Tutu started taking ballet lessons at age 9, it wasn't surprising when she excelled at it. And when Tutu excelled at something, Ahiru had to try too. And boy did she _try_, with every bone in her 5-year-old body did she _try_ to be as good as Tutu at ballet. For 5 more years, in fact, did she consistently stay in ballet classes. The basics of the moves, of course, she could understand by that point, but it appeared that no matter how hard she tried, when she danced her body stayed stiff and unrhythmic.

It wasn't until she sat in front of the television at age 10, did she realize just what she had been missing. The television showed women skating _on ice_ to the very same ballet melodies that Ahiru had been trying to dance to for so long. The women were graceful, beautiful, and it all looked so effortless! The young redhead could barely believe her eyes, watching the jumps and spins, not to mention the _dances! _

To say that that was life-changing would be completely on par, for soon after the fact, she was outfitted with a pair of crisp white figure skating ice skates with her signature yellow laces, along with weekly lessons from a figure skating instructor.

She wasn't naturally good at it, far from it. But in the years that she kept it up, she got to watch herself finally begin to improve, to glide like the women she'd seen on the TV. It was magical, to say the least.

When Ahiru turned 13, she tried her first competition. She didn't place, but the experience was enough for her to know that that was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

It didn't take long for her room to become covered in posters of her favorite figure skaters, and as she continued to grow and work toward her ultimate goal: _The Olympics_.

Since she turned 15, she tried her hardest to bide her time until the next Olympics by trying for Worlds. Trying, and trying, and trying. Always falling short, always failing to get past the qualifying rounds in Junior World Championships, and most recently in the Senior World Championships. At this rate, she was sure she'd never be good enough to even think about getting into her sought-after goal of skating in the Olympics.

Ahiru was, admittedly, close to just throwing in the towel and giving up. Giving up on the dream she'd had since she was 13… wasn't easy.

And that's where we are today. In the last week before Ahiru graduates from high school.

Her older sister had since been her dancing instructor and main consultant for career decisions, decisions which now included quitting skating all together.

"No," Tutu had said simply, when Ahiru asked her if she should quit to pursue an easier goal.

"But…" Ahiru started, ready to plead her case. Bring up her endless list of failures and deadends. List of times she couldn't even make it to the Grand Prix finals, let alone Worlds.

"No buts!" Tutu swung her arm around her little sister, bringing her in closer. "You've been working for 5 years straight for this goal! I'm not going to let my baby sister just give up without a fight. Don't worry, I've got an idea that's sure to help pull you from this rutt."

"What is it?" Ahiru asked, looking up at her older sister, at her pearly skin, pink-dyed bob of a haircut. Tutu's eyes turned to lock with Ahiru's, as she gave her young sister a mischievous grin.

"You'll find out soon enough~ Now go do your homework!" Tutu pushed her sister towards her room with a small laugh.

"Okay, _mom,_" Ahiru rolled her eyes with a small smile. She loved her sister, which was why she was willing to trust in Tutu's judgement and not press for any more details. Ahiru figured that whatever Tutu had in mind, it'd work out in the end.

…

It did not, in fact, work out in the end.

Not to Ahiru, as she stood outside of the mostly empty ice skating rink in front of her sister, watching the one man she could have possibly hated most in the world skate around doing outrageous poses out of tune to music playing from a speaker that was situated close to where Ahiru was standing.

Ahiru turned to her sister, her face showing a mix of both disbelief and irritation.

"This… is what you had in mind? To help me make it to the Olympics?" Ahiru asked, keeping her voice level as she tried to not straight up yell at her sweet-natured older sister.

"Trust me, little duck! You'll be thanking me later!" Tutu said with a nervous laugh as she placed her hands on the back of her sister with the intention of giving her a friendly shove into the rink. As she did so, Ahiru's toepick caught on the small step separating the rink from the outside, and Tutu's poor sister ended up sprawled out, face first on the ice.

Above her, she heard her sister's horrified gasp, and further away she heard a very annoying laugh.

"Fallen for me already? Why, we haven't even spoken yet!" Femio's voice echoed throughout the empty ice rink, and danced right into Ahiru's frazzled nerves.

With Tutu rapidly apologizing in the background, Ahiru stood up to glare in the direction of the man who was currently making fun of her. Before she could open her mouth to retaliate, all three of them turned their heads to the sound of clapping.

Ahiru's jaw dropped when the next person walked in. It was Fakir, _the_ Fakir that grew up in their small town, and still managed to go on to _The Olympics_ to win _two_ gold medals! In singles _and_ pairs! Ahiru couldn't believe she was in the same room as this living legend, and she sure as hell couldn't believe he was currently getting _her_ attention.

He walked up and turned the speaker off. Once he knew everyone had his attention, he opened his mouth to speak. "I know that this may seem like a surprise to both of you, but Tutu and I have discussed at length what the two of you are lacking as figure skaters and have come to the conclusion that the best way for you to reach your goals is to work together," he stated bluntly, and paused. "Any questions?" Without giving either of them time to gather their bearings, he continued. "No? Great."

Tutu interjected, "We hope that this pairing will bring you success! We believe that your skills will complement each other in ways that you just couldn't do alone! So… Do you guys want to go to the Olympics or not?"

Ahiru sighed. She did, she _really _did. But… Casting her gaze over to where Femio stood, his posture exuding sheer haughtiness… She wasn't sure if she would be able to stand being in the same room as that man, let alone the same ice.

"Well I know _I_ would like to. I'm just not sure if this little maiden has it in her?" Femio scoffed with a smirk, flipping his hair out of his face. "I mean, have you seen her skate yet, dearest Fakir? I'm not sure if she's really even ready to leave the beginner's class."

"Is that really how you pick up girls? By calling them '_maiden'_ and acting like you're the freaking prince of Goldcrown?" Ahiru crossed her arms defensively.

"Why, yes, of course~ I'm dripping in so much raw princely appeal, it doesn't matter what I say to make them all fall in love with me!" Femio laughed.

"If you're _soooo_ much better than me, then why haven't you gotten to qualify for Worlds? Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are," Ahiru retaliated, and Femio sputtered.

"Th-That's just because the judges aren't ready for what I bring to the table! As we all know, I choreograph _all_ of my own step sequences. Just last competition season I did these _wonderful_ dances based on a few of Kafka's pieces-"

"Yes, we _all_ know you make up your own little dance moves. Because you're _always_ out of time, and half of the time you're just stomping around the ice like a bull on steroids-"

"I'll have you know the bull has been the symbol of my bloodline for generations-"

"Oh yeah? Then that means all of your family members must resemble the brutishness of a bull too-"

"_Enough!_" Fakir shouted over Femio and Ahiru's bickering.

Ahiru jumped, startled from Fakir's loud voice, and looked down at the ice sheepishly. She couldn't believe she had let herself get carried away like that, but at the same time, she couldn't help it! Femio just got under her skin so easily!

Femio's face showed no regret, and Ahiru wasn't sure if it was capable of doing so.

"You two are going to work together whether you like it or not!" Fakir continued, and when the two of them looked over to him, he was pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. "Just… Tutu, help them try to pick out a couple songs to try, alright? I need to go take an aspirin."

"Right…" Tutu walked over to the speaker, and plugged her phone into it while Femio and Ahiru skated over. The two skaters stayed a safe distance away from each other, and kept their eyes on the nervous-looking Tutu.

Tutu scrolled through her music, thoughts running rampant in her mind. She just thought that the two of them would make a good pair, seeing as their flaws balanced out and they were the same age... She had no idea that they apparently _hated_ each other! And now of course Fakir had to leave her with the two of them, who were apparently only seconds from arguing again.

"We'd better do a pop song, or something upbeat. How else can I let my natural brilliance shine if I'm just skating to some depressing piano song?" Femio started, flipping his hair again.

"If you're trying to dig at the music I always pick, it's very obvious. And my music isn't _depressing_, its _classical_. Not that you'd know anything about classical music," Ahiru grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Classical music, hah! It's really no wonder you've never qualified for Worlds, what with you boring the judges into slumber!" Femio laughed, and Ahiru swore she was ready to slap that _stupid_ smile off his _stupid _face.

"If my music is the only reason I haven't made it to Worlds, then why haven't _you _made it yet? Is it possible that your _perverse_ moves simply pissed the judges off so badly they wouldn't qualify you either?" Ahiru said, a small smirk on her face.

"My dances aren't perverse- They're introspective! They're meant to make one think about life-" Femio cried, turning to point at Ahiru to punctuate his points.

"Think about how _awful_ they are, maybe!" Ahiru said, her smirk growing at the fact that she was winning this argument.

"Well-"

"Kids!" Tutu cried, startling Ahiru and Femio out of their argument. They both turned to face Tutu again, but not before sticking their tongues out at each other. "Please behave. Or at least try. I've a couple of songs picked out for the two of you, I'll send them to you both so you can listen to them and get a feel for them. Femio, may I have your number?"

"Of course, my lady," Femio said, pulling his phone out of his pocket with a flourish that Ahiru couldn't help but roll her eyes at.

Just as Tutu finished sending the short playlist to the two of them, Fakir walked back out with a water bottle in hand.

He eyed Ahiru questionably. "Are you really planning on practicing in that?" He asked, referencing the fact that she was currently clad in a pair of jean shorts and a hoodie.

Ahiru looked down at her outfit. "Huh…? Oh! No! I didn't know we were going to be practicing already, but I can go change!"

Fakir nodded toward the changing room, and Ahiru made her way off the ice and into the locker rooms.

She always kept a spare bag in one of the lockers, just in case she found herself practicing unexpectedly. It was a little tip she picked up from Tutu.

So, she changed into her usual work out outfit consisting of a pair of soft orange leggings, her favorite sky blue exercise shorts overtop, an orange under armor t-shirt shirt and a sky blue tank top. She pinned her long orange hair into a high ponytail before sitting down on the bench and tying her yellow laces. She took a moment to herself, slouching over and taking a deep breath.

"I don't know if I can do this…" Ahiru whispered to herself, holding her head in her hands with a long sigh.

This was going to be a very, very long season.

* * *

**AN:** This was started as a joke but here we are! :)

Reviews and favorites, along with any kind of constructive criticism are all greatly appreciated! :D

And, none of this would have happened had it not been for the wonderful people who helped with planning, outlining, and brainstorming in my PT Discord Server! (Self-promotion whom?)


	2. Chapter 2: First Practice

A knock sounded on the door, and Ahiru's head immediately snapped up as she fixed her posture. "Uh- y-yes?"

Tutu popped her head in. "Just making sure you didn't get stuck or something! You coming out any time soon?"

"Y-Yeah! Just needed a quick breather, no worries!" Ahiru stood, wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, and walked back to the rink with her sister.

While Ahiru was changing, it seemed Fakir and Tutu had decided to split Femio and Ahiru up for the time being, both because if they worked together now they might end up murdering one another, and because they each had different skills that they needed to work through. Femio needed desperate help with step sequences, and getting into rhythm with music. Ahiru needed help with the technical aspect of figure skating, seeing as she had never landed any kind of flip, toe loop, axel, lutz, you name it, above a double in competition.

So, each pair took to the separate halves of the rink and worked separately.

For Femio's lesson, Tutu started with just having a song from a well-known ballet playing from the speakers, but she soon found that Femio really… had no formal training with any kind of dance. It seemed as though he had just decided one day to become a figure skater and only got help in learning how to do a few jumps. When asked, he said he'd never hired a dance instructor, for he had always made up his own moves.

Tutu could feel a growing headache, but tried her best to be patient. She instead decided it would be best for them to relocate to her studio, where she could at least teach him the basics of ballet.

Ahiru watched this all unfold out of the corner of her eye as Fakir attempted to lecture her on something, something about her jumps.

She snapped back to attention when Fakir waved his hand in front of her face. "Uh, hello? Are you even listening?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes! Uh, well…" Ahiru smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck.

Fakir rolled his eyes. "I'll just start over, then. Tutu showed me a few of your tapes from past competitions, and I can tell outright that the reason you can never get enough rotations in is because you always hesitate before you jump. Not to mention, you never pull your arms in enough, or your legs together. She tells me your best is a double toe loop, so demonstrate it for me."

Ahiru nodded and skated away from the railing. She skated in a couple circles to pick up momentum before kicking off, spinning a couple of times in the air, and landing to glide backwards with her leg swooping out and her arms straight out for a little extra balance.

She looked over to Fakir, who was standing with his thumb and index finger resting on his chin as he scrutinized her. Ahiru was a little afraid to skate back over and face his criticism, but she did so anyway.

When she made it back over, Fakir was still silent. "...So? How was it?" Ahiru asked delicately.

"Well… Your landing was okay, though your kick-off was sloppy. It was clear you didn't keep your arms close enough to your center, and your legs were crossed at the knee instead of the ankle. When you landed, your free leg was sloppy as well. Are you sure that's your best jump?" Fakir asked, raising a critical eyebrow at her.

Ahiru pouted. "Yes… It is…"

"I see. Can you even land any kind of triple? In practice, at least?" Fakir asked, his tone already sounding somewhat fed up with the novice in front of him. How did she expect to go to the Olympics if she couldn't even do this?

"Yes! I-I mean, uhm, sometimes… The only one I've been able to land is a triple salchow, and it's not very often." Ahiru looked down at her skates, feeling shame for the fact that she couldn't really _do_ anything. "I'll just uh… show you, I guess."

Ahiru skated off, again repeating the motion of skating around a few times before she took off again, trying to make sure she really kept her arms secure over her chest, as well as her legs crossed at the ankles as she rotated the needed amount. When she descended, her ice skate's blade didn't manage to dig into the ice for enough traction, and she ended up sprawled out on her back on the ice.

She pushed herself up and gave Fakir a shaky thumbs-up.

Fakir sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb.

This was going to be a very, very long practice…

…

Meanwhile, Tutu hadn't been having any more luck than Fakir with her own new student. He kept suggesting different things that they could be doing besides basic ballet forms. Things such as jazzercise, improv, and interpretive dance.

"Now, Femio… I'm a ballet teacher, and this is a ballet classroom. The root of most winning routines is proper ballet training…" Tutu explained gently, when she had finally gotten Femio to shut up and listen to her. She's had difficult students before but nothing like this.

"Oh darling, I _know_, but I don't want to be like the other skaters! Why conform to that when I can let my princely charm shine through my own methods?" Femio asked, but clearly it wasn't meant to be answered since he had just continued on as if he had just been talking to himself. "Exactly! I can't 'wow' the judges by simply doing what a million others have done!"

Tutu could finally understand why Femio irritated Ahiru so easily. Luckily for poor Femio, Tutu was much more patient than her younger sister, and hadn't snapped at him just yet.

"Femio…" Tutu sighed. She really didn't want to have to pop his bubble like this, but he forced her hand. "I don't know how to put this lightly, but your… Unconventional methods of figure skating have not done anything to help you succeed in any competition. Don't you want to get a gold medal sooner, while your body is still young, rather than later?"

Femio was silent. It was a miracle. He was actually thinking over something Tutu had said without brushing it off!

"I suppose you may be correct… Then," Femio stood up straighter, finally reaching for the ballet flats Tutu had tried to give him when they had first arrived at her studio, "I shall become a prima ballerina overnight!"

Tutu laughed nervously. "Yes, well, maybe let's try to work up to that, shall we?"

…

When their practices had finally ended, many hours later, Ahiru met with Tutu back at home. Both girls were exhausted, and collapsed on the couch beside each other.

"How was your first training session with _the all mighty_ Fakir?" Tutu asked, turning her head toward her sister.

"Exhausting, and it's not even really over. During the days that I'm not training with him, I'm supposed to be doing exercises to build more muscle in my legs. Plus, he had me working so hard on just the _basics_ that I didn't even have time to properly fangirl over him," Ahiru turned to look at Tutu as well. "I am a little disappointed, all he did was shout orders from beside the rink. He didn't demonstrate anything, which made it even harder to learn," she paused, "How come I didn't know you and him were close enough to organize all of this behind my back?"

Tutu shrugged. "We're really not all that close, we were just classmates back in high school. He originally reached out to me because he wanted to know if I could be Femio's dance instructor. When I told him I was already yours, we put the plan together."

Ahiru nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. How was your lesson with Femio?"

Tutu groaned, letting her head fall back so she was staring up at the ceiling again. "It wasn't awful, he definitely has the potential to be a great dancer if he'd just stop adding his own moves. He tried to come up with a 6th position that was a combination of a break dancing move and miming…"

Ahiru grimaced for her poor sister. "That doesn't surprise me, he's such a pompous ass."

Tutu cringed hearing her sweet young sister use such crass language, but didn't comment on it. "You texted mom to ask her to pick up that stuff for your new diet, right?" she asked instead.

"Uhh… I think so," Ahiru said, pulling out her phone as they heard the sound of the door opening, along with the rustle of plastic grocery bags. "I guess I hope so..." she continued sheepishly. Both sisters rose to see if their parents needed any help bringing groceries in.

"No need to worry!" Their mom, Ebine, shouted from the doorway, "we've gotten everything from the car!"

"Yes, and if you girls would like, I can make us all tea while Ebine starts on dinner," their other mom, Edel, chimed in. "Any particular requests?"

"Ahiru, you should have chamomile, so you're not as sore when you work out later," Tutu reminded her sister, and at Ahiru's nod, continued to address their mom. "Ahiru'll have chamomile, and I'll take Jasmine if you don't mind!"

Edel nodded and put the kettle full of water on the stove before walking away to give her wife more room to cook in the small kitchenette. She joined her daughters on the sofa, sitting in between them. Edel wore a yellow and white horizontal striped shirt underneath a pink blazer, with a matching pink pencil skirt. Her mint-colored hair was fashioned in a short bob with the front and top of it pulled into a bun atop her head. She sighed when she sat down, relieved at finally getting off of her feet after a long day.

"So, how was practice?" She asked, her eyes glancing between her two step-daughters as she leaned over to take her shoes off.

Ahiru and Tutu looked at each other and shrugged. "It was alright," they said simultaneously.

"I swear, you two could be twins," Edel chuckled softly, and Ahiru and Tutu couldn't help but join in. "But I'm sure it had to have been more than just 'alright'. Ahiru, you got to train under Fakir, how was it?"

Ahiru sighed, "Well…"

…

After Ahiru finished describing what was probably the most _grueling_ practice of her life to her mothers, with Ebine poking her head into the living room to comment a couple of times, the four finally sat down to eat dinner. While everyone else got to eat a delicious stew, Ahiru was stuck eating pan-roasted broccoli and chicken, one of the meals that had been highlighted by Fakir for her to eat to help with her muscle gain. It was delicious, as Ebine's cooking so often was, but she'd rather be eating the fatty stew everyone else was enjoying.

When dinner was over, Tutu and Ahiru excused themselves to make a run to Tutu's ballet studio. It was only about six in the afternoon, so Tutu reasoned that they could practice for a few hours before returning home to go to bed.

Ahiru had on her light blue leotard with pink tights and darker blue pointe slippers. Tutu helped her warm up beside the barre, guiding her to stretch further than she would be able to normally.

Along with being a tool for figure skating, Ahiru used ballet as a way to stay in shape and to clear her mind. Besides the music she's heard millions of times, Ahiru's mind had gone fully blank as she let her body move along to the familiar dances of the classic ballets. Of course, she couldn't stay en pointe for as long as many of the professional ballet dancers, and sometimes she stumbled, or lost her footing, but it was the familiarity of all of it which let her truly let go of the past day's troubles.

As she painfully stretched to the very tips of her toes, an arm raised and the other outstretched and lightly resting on the barre, did Ahiru peer into the mirror behind the barre, and really felt like a ballerina. She paused for a moment, long enough to catch Tutu's attention. The pink-haired girl didn't say anything, but she did catch the look on her sister's face. It had been a mix of surprise and admiration. Tutu smiled to herself at that, leaning against the back wall with her arms crossed.

It was in that moment, watching Ahiru lose herself in the steps of the famous Swan Lake ballet, that Tutu was struck with inspiration for the coming season. In that moment, she knew exactly what to choreograph for Ahiru and Femio.

* * *

**AN: **if this starts to get glaringly similar to yuri on ice, it is 100% because i know nothing about figure skating and watched that anime for pointers on how the world of figure skating is

ALSO huge thank you again to the wonderful people in my discord server! None of this would have been possible without you lovely people thank you so much for helping and existing!


	3. Chapter 3: Repeated Mistakes

"...I'm just _saying_ that if you smiled a little more, maybe the judges wouldn't score you as harshly," Femio's haughty voice rang out in the mostly empty ice rink.

"Yeah, yeah, and if you could manage to actually skate a little during a _figure skating_ competition, maybe _you'd_ score a little higher!" Ahiru replied, her voice dripping in over-the-top, clearly-false sweetness.

"I do skate! It's called _figure skating_, or did you not notice that while you were flapping around and failing to complete any jumps?" Femio huffed, crossing his arms.

"I do _not_ flap around! You- you- At least I have actual step sequences! All you do is pose for 2 minutes straight!" Ahiru sputtered, her face getting red.

"It is _called_ interpretive dance, and requires deeper thought than I believe you're capable of, clearly," Femio flipped his hair, smirking.

Ahiru and Femio were so heated in their arguing, that neither Fakir nor Tutu wanted to get in the middle of it.

Instead, they just stared at the two teens as they continued to bicker, exchanging glances now and then. They had tried to briefly meet up at the ice rink to exchange students, Tutu giving up Ahiru and Fakir giving up Femio for the day. Instead of quickly getting in and out, Ahiru and Femio decided to drop their figurative gloves on sight, immediately taking vocal jabs at each other. Tutu swore, if Ahiru hadn't been built so small, she'd make an amazing hockey player.

It had only been two weeks since they formed the pairing, and they hadn't been able to get their students to skate together yet. This was in part due to the fact that both skaters had some basic skills that still needed buffing, but their teachers were confident that by weeks end, they'd be good enough to work together. Watching this though, and watching it every day since they had formed this pair, the teachers had their doubts. They needed to do something before they were joined, lest the two teens end up murdering each other on the ice...

"I mean, they've got to get it out of their system sooner or later. Maybe if we set aside time for them to fight now, they'll get through it and be ready to skate together sooner?" Tutu asked hopefully.

Fakir seemed to think it over. "That'd work. Anything to keep them from fighting anymore."

Tutu seemed taken aback by his willingness, though she figured that he was just as fed up as she was. "Uhm, sure! We could always lock them in a room together for awhile!" She said jokingly, tacking on a short laugh to make it obvious she was _just joking._

Fakir was silent.

She turned to him. "Fakir, we cannot actually do that."

Fakir remained silent.

"Fakir, I mean it."

"Well… It could be like when you put siblings in a 'get-along' shirt?" Fakir asked contemplatively. Despite the fact that Ahiru and Femio were not siblings, and had no familial obligation to get along.

"I really don't think that's a good idea…" Tutu warned, her hands going up in an attempt to stop him.

It was, of course, too late now. Fakir was already walking over to the two teens while Ahiru was in the middle of delivering a particularly scathing line about Femio's fashion sense, and grabbed her by the hood of her cropped hoodie, causing her to choke on her words as she was physically dragged away, with the back of Femio's shirt gripped in Fakir's other hand. With much protesting from both Ahiru and Femio, Fakir tossed the two of them in the small locker room, and quickly shut the door behind them, shoving a pair of blade guards in the handle of the door to prevent them from being able to open it.

Ahiru pounded on the door. "Fakir! This isn't funny! Let me out! Tutu! You can't seriously be planning on locking us in here?!"

Tutu made a move to push the blade guards aside to let her sister out, but at Fakir's look, she just sighed and sat down on one of the benches beside the locked door instead.

"This feels morally wrong," she sighed.

"If it makes them stop fighting soon, it'll be well worth it," Fakir, in an uncharacteristic show of kindness, had said gently.

Ahiru kicked the door in frustration, quickly regretting it as she hopped around clutching her foot in her hands, as she only had a pair of sneakers on to protect her toes. "Oh, good job. You really showed that door who's boss," Femio said with a chuckle.

"Shut up! I don't see you doing anything to get us out of here!" Ahiru turned to shout at him, finding him to have already made himself comfortable on the bench furthest away from her. He was sitting with one leg crossed over the other, his arms crossed over his chest. Femio's eyes were closed and his nose was pointed to the air snobbishly.

"Pfft-" Ahiru couldn't help the laugh that fell from her lips, "you look like such a diva-!" She continued to laugh, causing Femio to uncross his arms, a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"Y-You say that is if it's an insult-!" He exclaimed in embarrassment, his arms crossing once again out of habit. Ahiru couldn't get a proper response out as she fell on to the end of the bench closest to where she was standing, clutching her stomach. "Stop laughing!" His exclamations only fueled her, as she doubled over wheezing. "Your laugh sounds like a duck quacking!"

Ahiru finally settled down, frowning. "At least I have a real laugh," she huffed, "Yours is haughty and fake-sounding."

"It's _classy_, not that you'd know anything about _class,_" Femio said, turning his head to 'hmph' at her.

"Thinking you're better than everyone is not 'class', it's just mean," Ahiru interjected, crossing her arms and standing up.

Femio stood up as well. "I am not _mean_, I'm just honest. I'm a prince, afterall."

Ahiru took a couple of steps further, her face scrunching up. "You're not a prince, you're a phony! A real prince wouldn't act like such a… such a prick!"

He gasped, stepping closer to her. The two were now mere feet away from each other. "Such crass language! Did you learn that in the barn you grew up in?"

Ahiru took the final step, so they were nose to nose, with his head turned down due to the height disparity. She jabbed her finger in his chest as she spoke, "No one even likes you! In high school, you know what they all called you behind your back? Annoying, self-absorbed, and attention-seeking!"

Femio's face faltered before returning to a taunting expression. "You know what they called you behind _your_ back? A friend-less freak. The poor ugly duckling with no real talent."

"You…" Ahiru's face scrunched up, her lips flattening to a thin line as she lashed out, her hand reeling back to deliver a resounding slap to his cheek. "You don't know anything about me! You never did, and you never will! I…" Ahiru clenched her fist, fighting the urge to sock him in the nose. "I hate you!"

Finally, the door burst open and Fakir walked in, quickly picking up Ahiru around the waist and pulling her from the room before she could do any more damage with her anger, leaving Femio to stand in the middle of the room with his one hand resting on his rapidly reddening cheek as he stared out the open door. It appeared that the two adults had heard everything they had said.

Tutu poked her head in with an apologetic smile. "We can go to my studio now, if you're ready," she said softly. Femio nodded distractedly and walked out of the rink with her. Before the doors closed, his head turned toward where Ahiru was standing with her head down and her fists clenched at her sides while Fakir lectured her. The doors shut then, cutting off the image of her. But it was practically imprinted into his brain, her body trembling with something that could only be described as uncharacteristic rage.

When Fakir was done lecturing Ahiru about controlling her emotions, he gave her a shove toward the locker rooms. "Go put your skates on," he said, already rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Practice hadn't started yet, but he could already feel a headache coming on.

Ahiru nodded glumly, and sulked all the way to the locker room and back.

"I've finally got specific jumps for you. Try not to fuck them up too horribly." Fakir said, stepping aside from the opening to the ice to let her through.

"Oh yeah sure, no problem coach. Let me get right on that." Ahiru said sarcastically.

"Don't talk back to me, I don't _have _to be here you know," Fakir said, crossing his arms.

Ahiru looked away in embarrassment. He was right, of course. She didn't even know _why_ he was even here, but she didn't ask him. She figured that would only piss him off more. Despite his bad attitude, she still had the biggest hero-crush on him. When he wasn't being a huge stick in the mud, she still found herself making starry eyes at the man, to her own embarrassment. To be fair, she's been looking up to him for so long that these practices were like being in the presence of a god.

"What jumps am I doing?" She asked tentatively, looking up to see Fakir scrolling through something on his phone.

"Let me see…" He said, trying to find specifically where in his texts between himself and Tutu that they had laid out a plan for jumps. "Triple salchow, double lutz, a triple toe loop and triple loop combination," Ahiru's eyes were wide already, but he kept going, "It's not concretely in the program yet, but I want you to start practicing a quad salchow after we have these all down. Got that?" Ahiru nodded slowly, and as if Fakir could look any grumpier, his eyebrows turned down. "I'm not repeating that list. You should have gotten it the first time."

Ahiru huffed. "Yes, Fakir," she said, her tone laced with a bit of that usual teenager-back talk.

"Yes, _coach,_" he corrected. Ahiru opened her mouth to say something else, but Fakir waved his hand in a 'shoo'ing motion, ending the conversation there.

"Start with the triple toe loop. Should be the easiest, though with a bird brain like you, who knows." Fakir stated, and when he turned his back to grab a water, Ahiru stuck her tongue out at him.

The double lutz would be much easier, but he must have figured that she was already good enough at it that she wouldn't need to practice, instead she needed to focus on triples. There was a compliment in there, somewhere.

When he turned back around, Ahiru was already skating around to pick up speed, turning to start skating backwards before digging her toe pick into the ice and kicking off, quickly crossing her arms over her chest and crossing her legs at the ankle. Upon landing, as always, she flubbed it and ended up falling.

The shrill, short, ring of a whistle that Fakir seemed to have materialized out of thin air startled Ahiru into jumping up from the ice. "Do it again."

Ahiru did so without comment, skating backwards and kicking off the ice with her toe pick. Spinning in the air three times, she landed on two feet.

"That was pathetic. Again." He blew the whistle, again.

Skate backwards, kick off, spin, land.

"Under rotated." _Whistle._ "Again."

Skate, jump, spin, land.

"Your free leg was sloppy." _Whistle. _"Again."

Skate, jump, spin, land.

"Atrocious. Were you taught by gorillas before me?" _Whistle. _"Again."

Skate, jump, spin, land.

"Crossed at the knees." _Whistle._ "Again."

Skate, jump, spin, land.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" _Whistle._ "Again."

Skate, jump, spin, land.

Skate, jump, spin, land.

Skate, jump, spin, land.

It never ended.

When Ahiru fell this last time, she stayed down. She turned over to her side, her arm straight out on the ice, with her head resting on her own shoulder, her other arm curled around her stomach as she pulled her legs up into the fetal position. Tears were threatening to fall as she puffed out short breaths, her gaze completely unfocused as she attempted to both catch her breath and keep herself from crying from frustration. Both of her fists were clenched, and her eyebrows were furrowed.

"What the hell are you doing? Did I say you could stop?" Fakir asked, anger already evident in his voice.

"It hurts…" Was all she could manage. She couldn't tell what exactly hurt, her muscles, her lungs, her ankles, her pride. All she knew was it all hurt.

"I don't care. _Get. Up._" Fakir blew the whistle again. Ahiru wanted so badly to skate over and rip it from his hands.

"I can't…" Ahiru pleaded, shifting her head up to look at him. His eyebrows were knitted together, deep creases appearing in his forehead to mark how pissed off he was becoming.

"You can. And _will._ Do you think I got where I am today by giving up as soon as it got hard?" Fakir crossed his arms, glowering at Ahiru's slumped body.

Her bottom lip trembled as she struggled to fight back her tears, knowing she was fighting a losing battle.

He continued, either unaware or uncaring that Ahiru was already freely crying, tears dropping onto the ice. "You're pathetic. And wasting my time. _Get up, and do that jump right now_." Another shrill note from the whistle.

Ahiru pounded the ice with her fist, once, before slowly pushing herself up to her feet. Her face was fixed in a scowl as she wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve before skating off. Had she been walking, it would have looked more like she was a moody teenager just storming off after being reprimanded. She turned, her arms going out as she kicked off the ice with more force than she usually did, causing her jump to soar higher and her body to spin faster, as well as _land_ harder. Landing on the back outside edge of her skate, as her leg swept out and her arms opened for a little bit more balance.

She skated over and stopped abruptly in front of where Fakir was standing, sending ice flying in a wave onto him. Ahiru posed with a flourish, bowing. "How was that, _your highness_?"

"...Better. Less attitude would be nice." Fakir said, the permanent scowl still fixed upon his face as he wiped the ice shavings from his puff-vest.

Ahiru's eyes went starry again, previous irritation left in the dust. It wasn't a compliment by any means, but it still made her heart flutter.

"Yes, coach!" She said, unable to wipe the smile from her face.

"Now go do it again until you get it right every time."

"...Yes, coach…" She said, a little bit more dejectedly than before.

* * *

**AN: **Thanks again for reading! I finally actually added some scenes with ice skating in them xD

Don't get me wrong, there'll be a lot of ice skating scenes in the fic, I've just got some world building to do first, of course~

The scene with Fakir blowing the whistle was based on a scene from a movie! Kind of loosely based, but if you can guess what movie, you get bonus points~

Ciao ciao, see you soon ^^


	4. Chapter 4: Strict Teaching

Meanwhile, Tutu was in her studio, attempting to drill her newest student. He had quickly recovered from his fight with Ahiru, and was currently sitting in the middle of the room while Tutu helped him stretch. He was clad in his usual practice outfit, a plum-colored Nike short-sleeved shirt, with a pair of black tights which matched his black ballet slippers. He had already pulled his hair back using a hair tie that Tutu had graciously lent to him.

Tutu had discovered him to be extremely flexible a few practices ago, which was surprising considering his lack of education in ballet. He explained later that it was due to the fact that he had taken gymnastics before settling on figure skating. To stretch, she only needed to help him reach his toes, as well as lend a hand when he was warming up on the barre. Tutu had found he had really taken to ballet, but it was impossible to break him of the habit to try to make up his own 'ballet' moves. To help, she had ended up cracking and bringing in her mother. While Edel hadn't been a prima ballerina in her days, she was close. Close enough that none of her own previous teacher's lessons had been lost on her, and she easily assumed the role of the strict teacher that Femio needed. When Femio started to get out of line as he usually did, Edel was there with her cane-turned-riding crop to correct him.

Femio moved to the barre, attempting an _arabesque_ to stretch.

"Higher," She said, while Femio had his hand resting on the barre, one foot flat beneath him, as he stretched out, his other in the air but not quite straight enough for Edel. She placed her hand on his outstretched calf and pushed it so that it was directly perpendicular with the floor. "There, a proper _attitude._"

Femio's voice was strained, "Not… sure how long I can hold this, ma'am."

Edel's cane swatted at his shoulder. "In the studio, you only refer to me as 'Madame'. There will be no shortcuts in my classroom."

"Y-Yes Madame!" Femio said, still struggling to talk and stay in position.

"Down." Edel commanded, a few moments later and very much to Femio's relief.

Femio immediately let his leg fall, joining his other to be flat on the ground.

"Did you practice the positions like Tutu told you to?" Edel asked, a single slender eyebrow raised.

"Yes, Madame!" Femio nodded enthusiastically, excited to show he was good at at least _one_ part.

"First position," Edel nodded, accenting it with the tap of her cane on the floor.

Femio fell into the first position, his feet together in a turn-out, his posture straight, and his arms bent into a _bras bas_.

"Second." _Tap._

Femio let his legs stretch apart further, still in a turn-out, his arms opening to be mostly straight out, but slightly relaxed. Edel tapped his leg in a motion to pull it in a little closer, and he did so.

"Third." _Tap._

His left leg shifted in front of his right into a _croisé,_ his left arm staying out while his right returned to his middle, a few inches away from actually resting against his stomach.

"Fourth." _Tap._

His left leg moved forward, so there was space between his feet while still in a _croisé,_ his right arm moving a little closer to his center, his left arm shifting to stretch above his head above his head.

"And rest in fifth." _Tap._

His feet moved back closer, again still in a _croisé,_ and his right arm rose to join his left, forming an oblong 'O' with his arms.

"Good job, Femio!" Tutu said cheerfully, and Femio let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"It was okay," Edel corrected, "keep warming up beside the barre."

Femio nodded, stretching and repeating the different positions in order. Tutu stepped away to stand beside her mother, leaning over with her hand in front of her lips to mask what she was about to ask. "Mom, why do you have a cane? You can walk perfectly fine…"

Edel covered her mouth as a small chuckle bubbled up. "Oh, its because my own teacher had a cane when I was about his age. I've found it really helps get the lessons across," she replied, her voice much cheerier while talking with her daughter than with the boy.

"Madame, may I take a break?" Femio asked as politely as he possibly could.

"No, not until you correct that free leg," Edel snapped, slamming her cane down and making Femio jump in fear.

"Yes, Madame, sorry Madame!" He cried out, continuing to warm up.

"Step into the center of the room," Edel commanded, another tap on the ground with her cane. Femio jumped to do so. "Demonstrate your _pirouette._"

Femio pushed his weight onto his toes as his other leg lifted, toes pointed toward the knee of his straightened leg, his arms bent in front of him as he spun once, stopping with his leg out behind him and his arms straight out.

"Do it faster." _Tap. _"Again."

Lift, spin, pose.

"Point your toes more." _Tap._ "Again."

Lift, spin, pose.

"Your posture is too rigid." _Tap._ "Again."

Lift, spin, pose.

"Your leg is too loose." _Tap._ "Again."

Lift, spin, pose.

"If this is too difficult for you, you should just give up trying to skate beside my daughter," Edel said, her face on the border between impassive and irritated.

"What do you mean?" Femio asked, his eyebrows knitting together at the suggestion that _Ahiru_ was better than him.

"Ahiru has been dancing ballet since she was 5," Tutu offered, "she could do _Pirouettes,_ _Fouettés, Attitudes, Grand Jetés,_ all in her sleep if she wished. She spends almost every spare second in this studio practicing." Tutu tactfully left out the fact that while Ahiru _could_ do all of these things, she couldn't do them with any kind of consistency in her ability to do them _well._

Femio's head turned from Tutu back to Edel when she spoke again, "Everything that you're doing now, she mastered years ago," Edel was quick to catch on to what her daughter was doing, and played along, "That's why she's there, and not here."

Femio nodded a little, his face heating up at the thought of being worse than _Ahiru_ at something. Thinking about Ahiru… the image of her face moments after slapping him popped into his mind. Tears turning her blue eyes so much more crystalline, her lips trembling, her cheeks turned bright red in anger. After that, the image of her being lectured by Fakir came to mind, her back turned to him, her head hanging but her fists clenched at her sides, her body shaking. An unfamiliar feeling bubbled in his chest, something that felt like regret, but he couldn't be sure since it was a feeling he so rarely felt.

The pounding of Edel's cane on the floor pulled Femio back to reality.

"Get going, you're not stopping until it's perfect," Edel commanded.

Femio nodded, a newfound vigor in his movements.

…

After awhile, Femio was finally granted a lunch break. He unceremoniously plopped down on the ground, sweaty and very much exhausted, already digging into a salad he had brought with him. Tutu chuckled a little at his behavior, surprised to see that in his exhaustion he had dropped his princely, _manners-above-all_ attitude for once.

Edel had already left to go to work a few hours ago, leaving Tutu with her cane "_should she need it,'' _Edel's words. Tutu took a seat in a chair a few feet away from where Femio was sitting, with her own lunch in her lap.

"I've been wondering," Tutu started, pausing to chew a bite of her sandwich, "why do you do figure skating without jumps? Why not try ice dancing instead?"

Femio quickly swallowed the bite of salad he had in his mouth. "Well… My overwhelming princely charm intimidated all of the skaters near me! They were all too afraid to be out-shined by me, so they refused to pair with me!"

Tutu's eyebrow raised. "...Is that so?"

"Of course! That is not to say I never tried to beg- ahem, _ask_ someone to join me," Femio stated, staring down at his food as his fork pushed the bits of spinach and lettuce around the plastic container.

Tutu, ever the empathetic older sibling she was, picked up on Femio's mood shift immediately. '_So Ahiru isn't the only put off by his personality…'_ She nodded, "I see."

Femio continued, unprompted, "Of course I was approached with offers numerous times, but I knew that no one would _really_ be able to match my artistic talent!"

"Femio," Tutu said, silencing him despite her soft voice, "You don't have to keep up those airs here. If you'd like, my ballet studio could become a safe space for you to feel like you can just be yourself."

His eyes were wide, surprised anyone could see through him so easily. He quickly laughed it off, "I am being myself! I don't know why you would think otherwise!"

Tutu sighed, she knew that something like this would take time, and as such, tried to tap into her endless reserves of patience. "Trying to be someone you're not can be exhausting. In that area you and Ahiru are much more alike than you'd think."

Femio sputtered, not only had he found out he was worse than her at something, but now he was being compared to that _barn animal?_ It was preposterous! "I don't believe I see what you're getting at," he managed, as civilly as possible. He was not crass enough to insult Ahiru right to her sister's face, even _he_ knew that that would be a social faux pas.

"Well, Ahiru had to go years pretending like she liked being alone. I'm sure you know this, but she didn't have any good friends in school," Tutu felt a little bad spilling her sister's business, but she hoped that by explaining why Ahiru was the way she was, Femio might be a little kinder to her. "She forced herself to put all of her time into practicing, what few friends she managed to have talked behind her back more often than they did to her face." Tutu paused, in case Femio had something to add, but he seemed to be enthralled with her story. "I think towards the end, she forced walls up around her heart so no one could make her feel like that again."

"That explains why she acts without any thought for her image. Is that also why she is so unlady-like?" Femio asked, his eyes wide and innocent looking. It was as if he really didn't know any better.

"Um… I guess you could say that," Tutu didn't know how else to approach this topic, "but I mean more like… She says things she doesn't quite mean when she's hurt, because in her own way, she wants other people to hurt the way she does."

Femio's eyebrows drew together in thought. "You must have heard the things we said in the locker room, then," at Tutu's nod, he sighed. "I really must apologize for what I said to your sister. It was really very cruel of me to say such things to a lady, even if she doesn't act like much of a lady…"

Tutu wasn't sure how to take that. On one hand, he did something she didn't expect him to be capable of by apologizing, but on the other hand, in the apology he had insulted her sister. She leaned over to place her hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at her with that wide, innocent gaze. "I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to, you know," she said with a knowing look.

He looked confused for a moment before realizing just what she meant. "Oh, oh my! Of course, you are right. Next time I see that ugly duckling, my apology shall turn her into a swan!"

Tutu smiled and shook her head. They'd have to work a little more on toning down his prejudice, but hopefully her words would stick with him after the lesson was over. And, hopefully some time apart would be enough for Ahiru to cool down before they'd have to see each other next. Tutu made sure to remember to text Fakir later, and tell him that they should keep the two completely separate before the date they set for practicing together. If she was lucky enough, at said practice, maybe Ahiru and Femio wouldn't be inclined to fight at all.

"Of course, let's get back to work and maybe when you see her next, you'll have some new moves to show off."

"Yes, that would be wonderful!" Femio said with a small cheer.

* * *

**AN: **I'm super tired, and kind of sick of rereading this to edit it so if there are any major typos or places that dont make sense due to grammar, please feel free to bring it up in a review or something xD

So, for added funsies I'm gonna start putting some character info in the authors notes of future updates! I'll be doing 2 per chap, and I'll only be covering the major characters. So if I add any new characters, they'll get a little thingy too! (They also aren't supposed to be spoilery, it'll kind of be a thing for people to know certain things that might not get brought up in the story itself)

Also, I'll be writing them in the perspective of the character, because I'll always need the practice getting into the head of my characters oTL

* * *

Name: _Ahiru Becker_

Age: _18_

Height: _4'11"_

Ethnicity: _...German?_

Birthday: _March 18th_

Star Sign: _Pisces, but I don't really check my horoscope very often..._

Favorite Subject: _I always looked forward to Literature! Not writing essays, or doing papers, but getting to read the classics. The language in them is hard, but the stories are always so beautiful~_

Favorite Color: _Blue! No wait, orange! Maybe yellow?_

Favorite Show: _I don't have time to watch TV, but anything with ballet or figure skating is usually fun to watch!_

Favorite Music: _For skating, I like Classical. In my free time I listen to whatever's on the radio._

...

Name: _Femio Kraiser_

Age: _18 years of age._

Height: _5 feet, 5 inches of pure princely appeal~!_

Ethnicity: _German/Italian_

Birthday: _August 2nd_

Star Sign: _Leo, the majestic lion! I, of course, check my horoscope daily (And sometimes hourly~)_

Favorite Subject: _Myself~_

Favorite Color: _Your eyes~_

Favorite Show: _The story behind your gaze~_

Favorite Music: _The sound of your voice- Oh, hey Ahiru~ Have you come to revel in my amazing presence? Why is your fist raised? Why are you- *Video cuts out*_


	5. Chapter 5: Short Break

Tutu and Ahiru walked down the grocery store aisles with their two mothers, looking every bit like a dysfunctional yet very loving family.

"Ahiru, you can't get _Super Silly Sugar Smackers,_ remember? You're supposed to be cutting back on sugar," Edel reprimanded, putting the box of cereal back on the shelf.

"Aww, but _mom!_ It's only one thing, and I'm not really gonna be eating a lot of it!" Ahiru pouted, reaching for the box again.

"You say that now, but I know you and as soon as you go through a couple sugar withdrawals, you're going to end up eating the whole box in one night. _No._" Edel said, her tone full of motherly scolding.

The small redhead sighed, putting her arm down. "Fine, but I'm not gonna eat any of those Bland-O's. I'll just eat something else for breakfast," she huffed, crossing her arms.

"They're _Bran-O's_, not Bland-O's," Tutu corrected, as she reached for a box of them.

"Whatever! They should be called _Bland-O's_ anyway, 'cause they've got no flavor," Ahiru rolled her eyes.

Ebine watched her family bicker back and forth with a small smile, covertly grabbing the box of sugary cereal Ahiru so desperately wanted while Edel and Tutu weren't looking. She gave Ahiru a playful smile and wink, and Ahiru instantly brightened.

"Alright, what else do we need, then?" Ebine asked, since Edel had the list in her hands.

"Protein powder, yoghurt, and Ahiru needs more gauze for her feet."

Ebine nodded at her wife and continued pushing the cart down the aisle. The closest thing on the list was the protein powder, so she headed down a couple aisles with her family looking for it. She looked behind her briefly to see both of her daughters were on their phones, and Ahiru's eyes widened as she showed Tutu a picture on her phone.

"Look! Pique and Lillie both moved to America to train under the same coach!" She said, showing Tutu her Instagram feed. Pique and Lillie were two girls Ahiru had competed against often, from a different and much larger German town. Lillie had a flair for the dramatic, and her poor skating often reflected that. Many a time had she gone against her coach's wishes and changed jumps to be more difficult than she could manage, for the sheer drama of it. Pique was a very serious skater, and would only do things she knew for sure would work out, leaving her with technically perfect scores, but still too low to get very far with them. They were an odd pair that Ahiru had made friends with from the multitude of times all three of them missed the podium.

"Oh, interesting! Do you know who's training them? I'd assume they've got to have a strict coach if they're anything like I remember…" Tutu said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, they're training under Herr Katze. I heard he won 5 World Championships, before settling in America and marrying the mayor of a small town! He's super duper strict, and Lillie told me he had them doing suicides before he'd even let them attempt any kind of jump or spin."

"That seems more like a workout for hockey players than figure skaters, why would he do that?" Ebine speculated.

"Probably for conditioning," Edel commented, "since they wouldn't listen, he'd have to break them down to the fundamentals and build them back up. I bet come next season, they'll be sharing the podium with you, Ahiru." Her eyes had a knowing sparkle in them.

Ahiru laughed in embarrassment. "I haven't gotten to the podium yet, mom!"

"I'm sure you will very soon!" Ebine said cheerfully, the others nodding in agreement.

Ahiru smiled to herself. It was the first time she, too, felt a little confident in herself.

"Is this what you need?" Ebine asked, holding up a container of protein powder.

"Uhhh… Did Fakir specify a brand or type?" Ahiru asked, turning to her sister.

"I don't…" Tutu started, only to be cut off.

"No, I didn't."

The two girls turned around in surprise, seeing Fakir stand behind them with a shopping basket hanging from his arm.

"Oh, hello Fakir!" Tutu said cheerily, at the same time Ahiru stammered out a, "H-hi!"

"Why, you're the Fakir my dear Ahiru speaks so highly of?" Edel asked, holding out her hand to shake, which Fakir took graciously.

"You must be the parents," Fakir said, his mouth turned up in a small smile, though his eyes still looked bored as ever.

"Indeed!" Ebine also took Fakir's hand to shake. "Please be patient with our dear Ahiru, she always gets so starstruck when it comes to you! She still has posters of you up in her room-"

"_Mom!_" Ahiru cried, her face very clearly displaying how horrified she was.

Fakir couldn't help the small chuckle that rose from his chest, hiding it behind his hand. "I see, I'll keep that in mind during next practice," he said once his face was able to fall back to his usual deadpan expression. "Anyway, I should get back to my own shopping."

Edel and Ebine nodded together. "It was nice to meet you," they both said.

"Likewise," Fakir said, as he turned to walk away, before stopping, his head turning to address the family, "by the way, Ahiru, I'm pretty sure _Super Silly Sugar Smackers_ aren't in the diet I laid out for you." Then, he was gone.

Ahiru sputtered for a moment, before guiltily smiling at Edel, who gave her a disappointed look.

"_Stupid tiny town, with its stupid single grocery store…_" Ahiru grumbled to herself, as she went to return the cereal to the aisle they had grabbed it from.

…

"C'mon, just five more. It's not that hard," Fakir said, his voice clearly showing his irritation.

"Easy for you to say, you've just been standing around watching me for the past ten minutes," Ahiru managed between breaths. Her arms were still crossed over her chest, her feet hooked on the metal bar that she was using as leverage to complete sit-ups. Her abs hurt horribly, and she was sure if she had to do any more sit-ups, she'd throw up.

"Five more or you don't get a break for the next twenty minutes," Fakir said, ignoring her comment about 'standing around'.

"Y-Yes coach!" Ahiru squeaked fearfully, and she thought for a second she felt her soul escape as she quickly completed the next five sit-ups in record time. She got down afterwards, taking a long drink of her water. "Why am I doing this anyway?"

"Because, by working on your core strength, you're more likely to have a better center of gravity," Fakir explained, but sighed at Ahiru's dumbfounded expression. "Idiot. It means you'll be landing your jumps more."

"Oh… That makes sense, I guess. How come Femio doesn't have to do this too, then?" Ahiru asked, pouting a little at the notion that she was worse than that _pretty boy_ at something.

"He does. He works really hard to stay in shape for figure skating." Fakir said simply.

Ahiru tilted her head to the side. "Whaddya mean?"

"While you take time off to eat your sugary cereals and other such junk food, he works year 'round to stay in shape. Even more so now that he's going to have to be doing lifts during your programs," Fakir paused, his already sharp eyes narrowing a little at Ahiru, "maybe you should make sure you have all of the facts before you start insulting someone."

Ahiru sputtered a little in surprise, not expecting Fakir to be so pro-Femio. He had never shown any kind of affinity for the younger boy, so why now? She couldn't stop herself from asking, "why do you care so much?"

Fakir's eyebrows furrowed. "Idiot. Aren't you super invested in your family? Wouldn't you expect someone else to be?"

"Huh…? What?"

He sighed, rubbing his temples as the beginnings of another headache began to hit him. "Dumbass, do you expect me to spell it out for you?" Ahiru pouted a little, she was used to his verbal abuse, but it still hurt sometimes. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "We're cousins. We were _raised together._"

Ahiru's mouth dropped open in surprise. "You… I… What?"

"If you seriously still can't figure out what I'm saying-"

"No! I understand what you mean! I just don't understand how I… I never realized…" her mind flashed back to every mean comment she's said about Femio to Fakir, and she felt her heart drop into her stomach. She guessed that the feeling had to have been like if someone insulted Tutu to her face. Tears welled up in her eyes just at the thought. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea…"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't start crying over something so stupid. Go run laps or something, your break is over."

She sighed and stood. "Yes, coach…"

It didn't take long for Fakir to start yelling at her again, "Come on, pick up your feet! It's a half mile track, you should have finished 5 minutes ago!"

"I-" _huff,_ "Can't-" _huff,_ "Feel my-" _huff_, "Legs!"

"Too damn bad! If you so much as _think_ about slowing down, I'm tacking on 5 more laps. So _move it!_" Fakir shouted, stopwatch clutched in his hand.

Ahiru couldn't make out half of what he said over the sound of blood pounding in her ears, so she assumed it was a threat and tried to put more power into her legs. She made it back to him soon enough, gulping down breaths of air like her life depended on it, her hands on her knees as she hunched over. She definitely wasn't trying to keep her lunch in her stomach, no sir.

"That was pathetic. I want you to get this number down to five minutes by the end of the week." Fakir said, looking down at the stopwatch which red '10:34:58' in flashing numbers.

"But," she paused to steady her breathing, turning her head up towards him. "It's Thursday…"

Fakir narrowed his eyes at her. "Is that supposed to mean something?"

Ahiru's head dropped again, and she was sure she felt her soul leave her body for real this time. "If you're trying to kill me, I'd appreciate it if you did it in a more ethical way…" She stood up a little straighter, picking up her water bottle and chugging it.

He flicked her forehead, startling her. "Why would I do any kind of favor for you?"

Ahiru jumped back in a very dramatic fashion, clutching her water bottle so hard the lid popped off and sprayed water over herself. "So you admit you _are_ trying to kill me?!" Her hair was stuck to her face from the onslaught of water and sweat, her eyes were wide and her mouth had dropped open. All in all, she looked like a cat that had accidentally fallen into a tub full of water. Fakir covered his mouth as a laugh sprung free, turning as his body shook with silent laughter.

If Ahiru's eyes could grow any wider, they would have. Her cheeks stained with a very deep, red blush as she stared at Fakir's profile while he laughed. She'd never seen him smile like that, during a time when he wasn't tormenting her. He looked… _wow_. Her mind couldn't conjure up a word for it, as her eyes turned starry.

He stopped after a few moments, a few moments too soon in Ahiru's opinion, and turned back to her, still wiping tears from his green eyes. His eyes widened a little in surprise when he found her to be staring at him, and they quickly narrowed as a blush painting his cheeks.

"What are you doing still standing around? Start running!" He shouted, causing Ahiru to jump, and sprint back onto the track. Fakir's hand lifted to cover the lower half of his face. He must have been getting soft, losing his composure that easily.

* * *

**AN: **This is being uploaded a day late because ffn wasn't letting me upload from my phone last night. :( Will probably have another upload tomorrow, if I ever get around to uploading it :)

Name: _Fakir Amin-Kraiser_

Age: _25_

Height: _5'10"_

Ethnicity:_ German-Arabic._

Birthday: _October 9th._

Star-Sign: _Don't know, don't care._

Favorite Subject: _Reading._

Favorite Color: _Green._

Favorite Show:_ I don't watch television._

Favorite Music: _Mozart._

...

Name: _Tutu Becker_

Age: _24_

Height: _5'3"_

Ethnicity: _German, as far as I know!_

Birthday:_ July 6th_

Star-Sign: _Cancer, I think._

Favorite Subject: _Am I allowed to say Dance? Hahaha_

Favorite Color: _Pink, for sure_

Favorite Show: _Dance Moms is really amusing, if not a little bit horrifying..._

Favorite Music: _Ballet classics, but I do enjoy some modern pop from time to time!_


	6. Chapter 6: Laying Down the Foundation

**Disclaimer:** I don't know anything about figure skating OR ballet so I'm apologizing in advance if any of my descriptions are hard to understand/visualize cause they're hard for me to understand too.

* * *

T'was a beautiful summer morning, with the rising sun peeking out between the fat clouds floating lazily in front of it's shining rays, birds chirping happily to their young, and tiny ants soldiering on through the thickets of their little grass forests. Somewhere, a fresh cup of coffee was being brewed, a sleepy child was being awoken by the gentle streams of sunlight through their parted curtains, and a teenager was joyfully catching a couple extra hours of sleep and enjoying their break away from school. Spouses were rising to soft forehead kisses, sleeping cuddled in their partner's embrace, or playfully bantering over plates of hot breakfast.

And, past a hill, a couple of streets down from a very small town's main street, an ice rink was currently the host to a small group of people who were involved in the worst verbal race-to-arms in their lives.

"It'd be really nice if you'd actually learn to dance before stomping on to the ice and claiming to be better than me!" Ahiru shouted at her tormentor, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"It's not a _claim_ if it's _true!_ You should probably try to learn how to act like a _lady_ before you try for a sport as graceful as figure skating," Femio replied, hiding his smirk behind the back of his hand.

"I don't really think you should have any say in what _is _and _isn't_ graceful! Have you even learned how to stay in time with music yet?" Her jaw tightened, glaring at the man standing only a few feet away from her on the ice.

"Oh, I have _every_ right to decide what is and isn't graceful. Like that outfit you're wearing right now, is _dis_graceful!" He laughed antagonistically behind his hand. Ahiru couldn't help but look down, afraid for some reason that she had forgotten to put pants on or something similar. Instead, she just saw her usual workout clothes. A cropped tank top over a short sleeve spandex shirt, with exercise shorts and leggings. "I mean, the 80s called, they want their horrible jazzercise outfits back!"

"God, where'd you pick up that insult? Some 90s teen flick? Are you so desperate for new insults that you have to go back through the decades?" Ahiru crossed her arms, finally sporting a smirk of her own.

"At least I know how to dress myself without mommy's help. How old even are you? 11?"

"Shut up! I actually know how to _act_ like an adult instead of going around like my life is a freaking fairytale!" Ahiru cried out. Her number-one pet peeve was being mistaken for being younger than she actually was.

It was like deja vu for their two coaches, who were sitting beside each other on a bench on the other side of the wall that separated the ground from the ice, again just staring at the arguing teenagers. Fakir took a long drink from his thermos full of coffee, and offered it to Tutu.

"There's not alcohol in that, is there?" Tutu asked with a small laugh. She wasn't expecting there to be, but she also wouldn't put it past him.

"Nope, just black coffee."

"Ah, then thank you," Tutu said, taking the large thermos in her hands and taking a dainty sip from it before handing it back. "So when do you think we should break them up. When the claws come out?"

Fakir checked his watch. "Sooner rather than later. I know it's their first practice together but this is just ridiculous."

"Yeah…" Tutu sighed, wishing her sister would just get along with her partner.

Fakir stood, placing his hands on the side of the rink so he could lean over the wall a little. "Hey!" he shouted over Ahiru and Femio's shouting, causing both of them to flinch. "Are you two going to start skating soon or are you going to continue fighting like a bunch of morons?!"

"S-Sorry coach!" Ahiru shouted, skating away from Femio as if putting physical distance between them would keep him from instigating their fights.

"Hah! Kiss-up," Femio mocked, but followed her example by skating away.

"Have you two gotten a chance to listen to the music I picked out?" Tutu asked. Her phone was in her hand as she scrolled through her music to find the two songs. One for their short program, and one for their free program.

"Yeah, but… I'm not sure the second one is really right for the two of us…" Ahiru said somewhat sheepishly. She didn't want to dismiss her sister's choices outright, but the song seemed way too lovey-dovey for her and Femio to skate to.

"I hate to agree with the ugly duckling, but she has a point," Femio said, his hip jutting out as he placed his hand on it. "With any other maiden I'd love to skate to it, but-"

"That sucks," Fakir said bluntly, cutting off his cousin. "We already choreographed both of the programs for both of the songs. We weren't asking for your opinion, we were asking if you'd listened to them like you were told to do." Both Ahiru and Femio shrunk under Fakir's spiteful gaze.

Tutu let out a nervous laugh. "Anyway…" she started, making sure her phone's bluetooth was connected to the speaker that was on the bench beside her, "I'm not much of an ice skater, but I can show you two the gist of it. Just, uh," she stood shakily on her skates, her feet bending inward at the ankle. Fakir turned, the state of her posture making him grimace.

"Sit back down," he said, not very gently. Tutu did so, an embarrassed blush coating her cheeks. She was way out of her element. Sure she's gone ice skating a few times, but she had to admit she wasn't as graceful on the ice as she was on a stage. Fakir crouched on one knee with a tiny, almost unnoticeable wince, and untied her ice skate's pink laces. He laced them up much tighter than they had been before, and Tutu watched him do so, the blush on her cheeks only darkening. When he finished, he stood back up and offered his hand to her. She took it gratefully, and he helped pull her to her feet. Tutu looked down to see she was standing much straighter than before, and quickly waddled her way onto the ice, depositing her phone into the pocket of her skinny jeans.

"Well, to begin with," Tutu skated to stand at center ice. She began by laying out the scene for the entire short program, "For the short program, Ahiru, you'll be acting with the innocence of a girl who has not yet felt true love. You should have a bounce in your skate when you're skating with and to Femio, for you're Juliet at her first ball looking for a suitor when you spot _him,_ your Romeo. It's love at first sight. At first, you're adverse to him, you brush him off shyly when he approaches, but he continues attempting to court you and you finally give in, despite knowing that you shouldn't due to your families' rivalries. At first, you two will dance apart, at separate sides of the rink, before meeting in the middle to stop delaying the inevitable. Ahiru, you'll arrive first, your shoulders relaxed and your head hanging. As Femio glides toward you, circling around you a few times, slowly you'll rise, smiling at your newfound love," Tutu ignored the exaggerated fake-gagging sounds coming from her sister as she continued, "Femio will take your hand and lead you in a pair spin, which will lead into a dance together. After a few moments, you'll skip away as if being called away by an angry parent, and the further away you get, the more Femio will begin to sag, sadness gripping his heart as you leave. Then you'll skip back up, bring him back to life, and then we'll cross into the second half of the program!"

Ahiru looked as if she was going to interrupt to ask a question, but Tutu must not have noticed because she just continued on.

"I'll go a little bit more in-depth for the actual dances themselves. The music is, as you both know, Romeo and Juliet's Dance of the Knights, so I've choreographed most of the dance to be a remnant of that, though the story we're telling a little different from the one in the actual ballet, during that song anyway. Ahiru, you will start in the center of the ice with your head hung low and Femio, you're in front with your back turned to her, looking up to the sky-er, ceiling." Both teenagers moved to the positions she stated, awaiting further instructions. "I'll start with Femio, because for a little bit you two will be skating separately." Femio nodded, shooting Ahiru a smug look over his shoulder. Ahiru rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

Tutu moved so she was standing beside Femio, in order to demonstrate what to do. "So, when the music starts, I want you to take a couple steps forward, then sort of glide in an arc backwards in a half-circle around Ahiru with your arm furthest from her out and your other hand on your hip. Repeat that while skating forward, and then you'll skate away, to the right. When you get towards the edge of center ice, stop and with both of your hands on your hips, cross your left leg behind your right, return, your right leg behind your left, return. During this you shouldn't be completely still, you should be gliding somewhat. Repeat that twice and then you'll do a butterfly jump into a combination spin consisting of a basic camel into a donut, down to a sit spin. You'll straighten back out and change feet, doing another camel spin into a sit spin on the opposite foot. I can't really demonstrate that for you, though…"

"It's alright, my lady, I understand the gist of it," Femio said with a small hair flip.

Tutu's mouth opened and closed a few times, and she did not look very amused. "Right… Anyway, when you finish your spin combination, you'll skate back to center ice with Ahiru." The two of them skated back to the center, where Ahiru was waiting patiently. "After that, you two will actually be skating together, so I'll show Ahiru what she's to do before that, okay?" Femio nodded, and Tutu turned back to her sister. "Okay Ahiru, when the music starts, you stay still and looking down at the ice while Femio skates backward and forward around you, as he does, I want you to slowly lift your head as if you're waking from a long dream. When he skates to the right, you'll skate in a small circle with your arm out in the same way Femio's was, then do a small trot to the side before gliding. You two should be directly parallel, and you'll also stop and with your hands on your hips, cross your right leg behind your left and so on and so forth. You two should be mirroring each other in real-time, especially when you do your combination spin." Ahiru nodded, and the two sisters skated back to center ice.

"Now, you two should arrive at the same time, Ahiru as you're skating up, fall back into a relaxed position with your head down, and Femio you will skate around her almost as if you're orbiting her, so you'll stay facing her the whole time. As he's doing this, Ahiru, you should be slowly lifting your head to watch him just as he's coming into one full circle. Femio, when you make one full rotation, slow and meet Ahiru's eyes, take her hand and you two will do your pair spin."

Tutu had to pause for a quick breath, and to make sure they were still listening to her.

"Then you'll skate together with both of you facing away from each other, but only a few inches apart, down the ice for a few paces both of your hands on your own hips, sharply turn, and do the same in the opposite direction. You'll be skating back to back, your heads turned to look into each other's eyes. _In unison._ You'll do this up and down the ice a couple of times until the music slows a little, and then you'll need to skate back to the center, with Ahiru behind you Femio. Femio, you'll step to the right and lift your left arm in a sweeping motion, while Ahiru, at the same time you'll twist behind him towards the left, skating out from behind him. Once you're no longer behind him, twist your back with your arm swooping forward, for you, and then you'll glide back behind him. Pause, your arms in the third position, let your back bend backwards as your legs carry your forward in front of him, when you've passed him somewhat, let your arms open into the second position and curtsey, your legs should be crossed. Femio, as she's curtseying, you need to let your body look as if it is falling limp, because at that point Ahiru will be skating away. In this scene she's like your life force, and the further away she gets, the more drained you should feel."

Femio scoffed a little. "I think it's the other way around, but go on."

Tutu's face looked unamused. "Yeah, sure."

"Uhm," Ahiru spoke up, and Tutu turned to her sister. "Shouldn't we have done more than just a combination spin and pair spin by now? Surely you're not gonna…" Ahiru trailed off, frightened by her sister's innocent smile.

"Not going to leave everything else in the second half? Is that what you were going to ask, my little duck?" Tutu asked, still smiling innocently.

"Yes… That… I mean, we're young and have the stamina but isn't that a little bit…" Ahiru wasn't sure how to finish that. Unrealistic? Crazy? Impossible? All perfectly good words, but she didn't want to criticize her sister's choices. "...Difficult?"

"Isn't everything on the ice difficult?" Fakir piped in, "Plus, you're not going to be winning any kind of medal if we keep playing it safe."

"But there are 5 more elements that we'd need!" Femio butted in, his voice still carrying that dramatic lilt he loved so very much. "The hand-to-hand lift take-off, a twist lift, a throw jump, a solo jump, the death spiral. Isn't that a bit much for just one last minute of ice time?"

"Well, looks like someone did their homework," Ahiru grumbled, admittedly surprised that he could remember all of that off the top of his head.

"Of course," Femio said haughtily, and Ahiru was sure she could see the sparkles around his head, as if the two of them were in some shoujo manga. It was… disturbing.

"Are you saying that you're unable to do it?" Fakir asked, addressing both of them. Ahiru and Femio both looked away, somewhat sheepishly. "You're not going anywhere near that podium if you don't suck it up and get over yourselves."

"It-it's not an ego thing!" Ahiru cried out, her eyebrows furrowing. "It's- barely anyone is crazy enough to most of their technical elements in the second half!"

"Yeah? And not just anyone can win gold in Worlds or the Olympics. Do you want to be like everyone else, held back by their fears?" Fakir crossed his arms.

Femio's head perked up at that. "I don't! C'mon Ahiru, stop being a little baby and just skate the program we've been given."

"Don't say that as if you weren't just doubting them a second ago too!" Ahiru shouted, her arms crossed defensively. As much as she hated Femio, she liked it better when he was at least on her side with something like this.

"Maybe they've just convinced me. At least I know to actually listen to my coaches," Femio said with a short, stuck-up laugh.

"As if! You of all people have no right to talk about listening to your coach," Ahiru scoffed.

"Yeah? And you-"

"Enough fighting!" Tutu exclaimed, startling the two before their argument had gotten a chance to really take off. "Just, try it with everything else in the second half. If Fakir and I believe that it is too much for the two of you, then we'll change it. But you'll never know unless you _try_ it first."

Ahiru nodded slowly, with a sigh following afterwords. "I guess you're right… Then continue showing us the short program?"

"Of course. Now, where was I?" Tutu sighed, smoothing down any wrinkles in her blouse.

"I was skating away as Femio falls asleep or whatever," Ahiru supplied, and Tutu nodded.

"Right, right. After that, you'll skip back up to him, circling him a couple of times and bring him back to the world. You two will skate off together, gliding around and he will lift you up, holding you up by your hands, and skate to the other side of the rink. He'll set you down and you'll skate together back to the center of the rink, and do your death spiral. When that finishes, you run away, afraid of intimacy with a man from the hated _Montagues_, but he takes up the chase, you'll turn at the last second just as his hands find your waist and lift you up, tossing you into the air, catching you as a way to show that you can trust him. You give in, you'll skate together again in unison, doing a triple toe loop together. The music will pick up as he's picking you up again, this time betraying you as he tosses you away, into a triple flip. You'll land it and he'll skate to you, throwing himself to his knees at your feet, clutching your legs, and you'll cup his cheek, both of you staring into each other's eyes as the music fades out…" Tutu let out a dreamy sigh. It was the perfect narrative to her, a story of trust and betrayal that makes a good ballet interesting, compressed into one fast-paced, two minute and fifty-second short program. If they did it right, there was no way the judges, or anyone in the audience for that matter, would be able to look away.

Tutu looked between her two pupils, who were both staring at her, their faces showing a mix of fear and uncertainty. "Of course, we can work up to all of that. I know neither of you have done any kind of pair skating, so this is really a learning process for all of us. Well, except Fakir, but that's a different story. But… The road up to this point was already difficult, so why give up now that the level is higher?"

Ahiru sighed. Her sister was right, unsurprisingly. She was always right. "Yeah… I guess, I'll give it a shot, then."

Femio nodded. "And I will as well, of course. How could I not? A true prince never backs away from a challenge!~"

Tutu had to quickly jump between Femio and Ahiru, before Ahiru could start another fight.

"Then, let's win gold, together!" Tutu cheered, her arms out as a strained smile stretched its way across her face.

This was going to be a very, very long season.

* * *

**AN: **So basically, (what I have learned from a lot of google searches, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) A short program in figure skating is about 2 minutes and 50 seconds long, and for whatever technical elements done in the second half of the program, you get some kind of score multiplier (AKA more points).

Seven technical elements are required and the technicalities change every year, I took from the required elements from the 2018-2019 skating season: any hand-to-hand lift take-off, a double or triple twist lift, a double or triple throw jump, a double or triple solo jump, one solo spin combination with just one change of foot, a backward outside death spiral, and a step sequence that covers the entire surface of the ice.

I'll explain a little further.

-A hand-to-hand lift take-off is basically just... lifting your partner, from my understanding? There's many ways of doing it, of course, but it's just an overhead lift.

-A twist lift is when the female partner is hurled into the air and caught after spinning a couple times

-A throw jump is similar to the twist lift, but instead of being caught, the girl is tossed into doing some kind of jump (ex. axel, loop, etc), and are only allowed to do a triple or double.

-A solo jump is just a jump done without being thrown, from what I've seen they need to be in sync/they're scored higher when they are in sync

-A solo spin combination is just a combination spin, also scored higher when in sync

-A death spiral is when the male holds the hand of the female spins said female nearly parallel with the ice. (videos to come)

-Step sequences are the dancing part :) They can include any kind of spin and jump not required.

I have a bunch of video links in my AN on AO3 but I'm gonna assume links still don't work on FFN, so my account there is the same as here (SquiddlesScribbles) if you want some video examples of what I'm talking about, along with the video of the ballet performance I'm basing their short program on.

That entire explanation was really long so I'm gonna do the character info next chapter instead.

Also, if any of the links are broken/don't work, pls tell me


	7. Chapter 7: Bumps and Bruises

"How many more times do you plan on tripping me during this practice?!" Ahiru shouted, jumping back up to her feet and planting her hands on her hips.

Femio, too tired and overworked to come up with something snarky in reply, just exclaimed, "For the last time, I'm _not _doing it on _purpose!" _He was hunched over, his hands resting on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

"Start again!" Fakir called from the other side of the rink.

"Right," Ahiru said at the same time Femio said, "Fine."

Tutu restarted the song just as Ahiru and Femio returned to the center of the ice. As the opening notes started, the two skated away from each other. As soon as they entered into their spins, Fakir yelled, "Stop!" and the music stopped soon after. The sudden change caused Ahiru to fall, landing on her butt with her legs straight out, and Femio burst into laughter at the sight of her sprawled out on the ice.

"Enough, get up." Fakir snapped, his arms crossed. Ahiru did so, and he continued, "You two need to keep an eye on each other when you spin. You were completely offbeat, and out of sync. You're supposed to jump just," he motioned for Tutu to start the music again. When the part they were supposed to jump at played he said, "there. Understand? Do it again."

The two students nodded, and Tutu started the music over again.

And again without fail, like the other six times they attempted it, they messed it up in some way.

"Ahiru, what even was that butterfly jump? A caterpillar jump? That was just sad," Fakir shouted, and Femio stifled his laughter behind his hand. Fakir turned to his cousin. "You're not spared either. Your donut spin was pathetic. When this is over, you're doing more yoga later." He paused, looking at the disappointed faces of his students. "Whatever, start again."

They skated back, settling into position for a couple of seconds before the music started again. This time, they managed the combination spin without complication. They made it back to center ice to do their step sequence. Dancing, back to back with their heads turned and their eyes locked, they continued on. Ahiru's face was set in stone, her eyes staying forward instead of staying connecting with his. She soon skated away, and around, before skipping back up to him.

She circled him for a moment before they skated off together. The music dramatically picked up just as Femio grabbed Ahiru's hand, pulling her close. Her free hand was already on his shoulder as his hand moved from her hand to her waist, his other falling behind his back. He lifted her up by her waist with his one hand, Ahiru's own hand on his shoulder helping to keep her supported as her free hand grasped the blade of her skate. Her other leg was out, her toes pointed downwards as Femio spun a few times. His free hand lifted and at the same time, her hand moved from his shoulder and she let go of her ice skate. Both of his hands now grasped her waist, and her's fell to grasp his as well. He bent his arms down and spun, spinning her body over his head as well while her legs were stretched out to create a helicopter effect.

When he was done, he set her down a little bit unexpectedly and her toepick ended up catching on the ice, causing her fall.

She couldn't get up in time, and the music stopped. Both her and Femio groaned, just as Fakir shouted, "Again!"

Ahiru huffed and skated back to center ice with Femio. "At this rate, we'll never get to even find out what our free skate it when the season starts," she said under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Maybe if you'd skate the program right, we wouldn't be having so many problems," Femio replied under his breath, as the music started.

They skated off, but continued making jabs at each other.

"I don't think you're one to talk," Ahiru said in a hushed tone, just loud enough for him to hear as they skated away from each other. They both completed their combination spins without fault, and skated back to the center. The music slowed and Ahiru let her head slowly fall as if she were asleep. She heard Femio skate towards her, skating around her a few times as her head slowly lifted. "You've been doing worse than me, so far," she continued, her eyes locking with his as per the program. She turned so that her back was to his as they skated out their step sequence.

"At least I look good while I mess up, ugly duckling~" Femio said with a smirk as they skated back to back, their heads turned to keep their eyes locked.

Ahiru glared at him, her nose wrinkling. "Your stupid prince act doesn't make you any better of a skater than me," she said, her voice still hushed as her eyes zeroed in on his taunting plum-colored irises.

They turned, staying together as they slowly danced back to center ice. "It's not an _act_, ugly duck. You're just too thick-headed to know a real prince when you see one."

They danced together in place. This was the longest they had gone without messing up in some way that caused Fakir or Tutu to have them stop. "If that's how you think a prince acts, clearly you've never seen a real prince either," she said, before skating away.

She skated back up to him, skating around him as his head lifted slowly to meet her eyes. "You wouldn't know a real prince if he walked up and knocked some sense into you," he said, as she circled him one last time. As Ahiru began to skate away with her arms out, Femio chased after her, skating in time behind her, his hands gently grabbing her's. He lifted her above his head, skating clear to the other side of the rink as he spun her in his hands.

Slowly, he let her back down onto the ice, his hands staying on her hips. Her arms were out as she arched her back, Femio pulling her back up. When they were face to face again, still skating and Femio's hands still resting on her waist, Ahiru spoke again. "You're delusional if you think you're the one here with any sense."

Femio's hand moved up from her waist, her fingers caressing down her arm to hold her hand as they skated in a small circle, Femio crouching down as he anchored himself with the toepick of one skate, the other keeping him spinning. His hand was still tightly gripping Ahiru's as he spun her around in a 'death spiral'.

After enough rotations, Femio jerked her up, causing her to stumble. Looking for any way to keep herself upright, Ahiru's hands shot out and gripped the front of his shirt. Her eyes closed tightly as she started to fall backwards, pulling Femio down with her. The impact of the hard ice on her back knocked the air out of Ahiru's lungs. Her eyes opened suddenly, centimeters away from Femio's own. Their heavy breathing caused their breaths to intermingle, and Ahiru just realized she could feel Femio's legs on either side of her hips. Slowly, a deep blush blossomed on their faces, and Ahiru scooted out from under Femio quickly, covering her mouth just as the beginnings of a startled "quack!" was leaving her lips. Femio was also covering the bottom half of his face with his hand, trying to hide his blush, both teens looked over at their trainers.

Tutu was chuckling nervously while Fakir looked angry. "Would you two stop messing around and get back up!" he shouted. The music had already been stopped.

Femio and Ahiru both jumped up in embarrassment. "Why did you have to pull me up so roughly?!" Ahiru shouted, her emotions sliding around in her head. She wasn't sure if she was feeling embarrassed, angry, or assaulted.

"Why couldn't you keep your balance?! Aren't you a ballet dancer?!" Femio shouted back, his cheeks were still glowing red, and he couldn't meet her eyes.

"How could anyone keep their balance after having their arm yanked out of the socket?!"

"I've always lifted you like that, I didn't ever see you complain then!"

"You're ridiculous!"

"At least I can keep on my skates!"

"_Quiet! _" Fakir shouted over them. Tutu cringed, as she was standing right beside him, but she couldn't really be upset since it had done the trick. "Start again from the beginning!"

Ahiru and Femio groaned, skating back to the center of the rink.

They made it only to the lift again, this time when Femio set Ahiru down, she tripped over his leg and nosedived into the ice. Her hands weren't able to stop her fall, and she ended up slamming her face into the hard surface. When she lifted her head up moments later, her nose was gushing blood. At the sight of blood, Tutu threw open the partition separating the ice from the outside and rushed onto the ice to her sister.

"Ahiru, are you okay?!" She cried, helping her sister back to her feet.

The redhead nodded slowly, her hand covering her nose to attempt to keep the blood from spilling any further. Tutu helped her slowly skate back to the side of the rink, where Fakir was standing beside a duck plush which housed a box of tissues. Tutu quickly grabbed a handful of tissues and handed them over to her baby sister. Ahiru stuffed a couple into her nose, tipped her head forward and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Femio took this time to skate over and take a long drink from his water bottle. His eyes shifted to his cousin, and found him to be staring off at the ice, his arms crossed. Femio shrugged, and turned to lean against the short wall, taking small sips from his water.

Tutu brought Ahiru off of the ice to the bench to let her sit down and give her time to let her nose stop bleeding. She also brought her sister a bottle of water to sip on while waiting, and sat beside her. "Are you okay?"

Ahiru nodded, a little exasperated. "Yes, I'm sure. It's just a nosebleed, I've had them before."

Tutu's voice lowered to a hushed whisper. "That's not what I was talking about," her eyes flickered to Femio's back, to make sure he wasn't listening. "I meant what happened with him…"

"Oh!" Ahiru's voice rose an octave, and she shrunk under the startled gaze of Femio and Fakir. They turned back after a moment, but the embarrassed blush remained on Ahiru's cheeks. "Uhm, it was nothing, really! Just a little surprising, I just- uh…" she looked down at the water bottle in her hands, unable to look her sister in the eye.

Tutu ruffled Ahiru's hair, chuckling a little in response. "I'm sure. Don't worry about it, little duck. Accidents happen."

The redhead nodded in agreement, and let the silence settle around them.

After Ahiru's nosebleed subsided, they all took a break for lunch. They each sat in a row on the benches, with Femio beside Fakir, Fakir next to Ahiru, and Tutu on the other side of Ahiru.

Ahiru popped open her lunch, which consisted of a salad with many greens and a light dressing. Fakir peered over at her, and sighed. "Idiot. You can't just eat lettuce and spinach with the work you're doing." Even though Ahiru opened her mouth to protest, Fakir silenced her with a look as he took some of the chicken from his own meal and placed it on her's. "And remember, you're supposed to be eating lean protein like chicken or tofu…" Ahiru tuned him out, continuing to eat her lunch.

Tutu smiled a little to herself, watching them interact. Despite the fact that he was lecturing her, he didn't seem as gruff with her as he used to be. She shifted a little to see Femio being uncharacteristically silent as he ate. He was staring down at his food, seemingly lost in thought with a light blush on his tanned cheeks. She discreetly stood to sit beside Femio, looking at him with a gentle look on her face. "Femio, you doing okay?"

He inhaled sharply, his surprised eyes looking up at her. "I-" he chuckled, his face falling back into its usual overly-confident smile. "Of course, my lady. I was simply trying to remember if I had washed my face last night is all~"

Tutu nodded slowly, not believing him at all. "I see," she said in reply. "If you ever need to talk, of course, my studio is always open!"

He gave her one of his dazzling smiles. "Thank you, fair maiden."

"Speaking of which, Ahiru and I were going to go to yoga after this practice. Since you have to do more anyway, would you care to join us?" she asked, considering this to be a good way for Ahiru and Femio to exist in the same area without fighting.

Femio seemed to mull it over in his head before answering a few moments later. "I suppose there's no reason for me not to. I shall join you two today, then."

"Sounds good! Keep it on the down-low for now though, I'll let Ahiru find out on her own," Tutu said in a hushed voice, and Femio nodded. "We'll just need to stop at home first, if that's okay with you?"

Femio nodded. "Not a problem, my lady."

* * *

**AN: **Whew! That took me longer than usual to complete! oTL

Just a head's up, I won't be posting frequently in the coming months. School is starting, so I won't have time to write anymore :(

Name: Edel Becker

Age: It is not polite to ask a lady her age.

Height: Tall

Ethnicity: German

Birthday: June 23rd

Star Sign: Cancer

Favorite Subject: Psychology

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Show: I've not the time to watch much television.

Favorite Music: Ballet classics.

...

Name: Ebine Becker

Age: 46, last I checked!

Height: Too tall, haha!

Ethnicity: German

Birthday: May 2nd

Star Sign: I don't know, that's more of Edel's thing.

Favorite Subject: Home ec, though I'm not sure if they teach that anymore.

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Show: Great British Bake-Off

Favorite Music: Whatever's on the radio, though I do love the classics.


	8. Chapter 8: Embarrassing Parents

Femio, unsurprisingly, took up a majority of the conversation during their walk to the Becker home. There were small breaks in which Tutu managed a small comment in relation to something that Femio had said, but nothing compared to the absolute volumes of speech Femio managed. To Ahiru, torture. To Tutu, who was much more observant-and who may or may not have dabbled in psychology in her day-it seemed relieving to Femio. During his ramblings, his shoulders relaxed, as did his expression. It seemed as though the longer he was allowed to talk, the less he talked about being 'princely' and such. He managed to talk about everything and nothing at the same time, and by the time they reached the first steps, Ahiru was about ready to tear her hair out.

Ahiru stormed into the house silently, leaving Tutu to tell Femio, "you can wait in the living room, if you'd like."

Femio nodded, taking a seat on the sofa and looking around at the decor. The apartment they lived in was pretty small, but their furniture was light-colored and cheery, with all of the windows open to let in the sunlight and light summer breeze. The sofa he was sitting on was a sky-blue color, and beside it was a matching loveseat with an end table made of a worn, light-colored wood between them. In front of him was a coffee table that appeared to have gotten its fair share of use in the years, with chips and scratches in the wood, along with a few burn-marks. In front of him and sitting atop a glass TV-stand was a medium-sized television. Behind that were two windows, bordered by cream-colored curtains that were pulled back to let in the early afternoon sunlight. On the opposite wall was a bookcase full of worn novels, some showing ice skates on the binding and others with ballet-slippers.

The walls were adorned with floral paintings that used similar colors to the furniture, along with framed pictures of the family. He noted the two women that appeared in each photo, shivering when he recognized Madame Edel in most of them. He wondered if Edel was their aunt, since Tutu and Ahiru didn't look like her. The other woman, he didn't know. She had a plump face, purple-colored hair piled in a high bun, and always had the same jovial smile on her face in each family picture, similar to the smile Ahiru had when she was excited about something. (He only saw it once, when Tutu brought her ice cream during one of the practices, but the image was imprinted in his brain.)

Tutu poked her head out of the hallway, catching Femio's attention. "It's gonna be a little longer than expected, Ahiru wants to take a shower real quick. Is that okay?"

Femio nodded, "Of course, my lady. Take all the time you need."

Tutu smiled appreciatively and walked back to the room, leaving Femio to his own devices once again.

Being the teenaged boy he was, Femio had to shake the image of Ahiru in the shower out of his brain with a dark blush on his cheeks. His head turned when he heard keys jingling outside the front door, and he quickly jumped up. He quickly smoothed out any wrinkles on his clothes before walking over to stand close to the door. To his horror, Edel walked first, two large paper bags full of groceries in her arms. Her eyes narrowed at him, and Femio shuddered.

"H-Hello, Madame!" He said, a somewhat nervous smile stretching across his features.

She raised one thin eyebrow at him as he stepped aside, letting her walk the rest of the way inside. Behind her, the purple-haired woman walked in with matching brown paper bags in her arms. She smiled brightly at the sight of the boy, quickly setting down the bags on the counter to shake his hand.

"Hello! You must be Femio," she said, and Femio instantly knew by her bright smile and mannerisms that she must be Tutu and Ahiru's mother.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Femio said, raising her hand to place a gentlemanly greeting-kiss on her knuckles. He immediately noticed the silver wedding band on her ring finger, and briefly wondered where her husband was.

Ebine giggled girlishly, and Edel couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You as well! I've heard so much about you, but you're much more of a gentleman than Ahiru described."

Femio stood back up, his posture straightened and his hands clasped behind his back as his eyebrow twitched in slight irritation. "Oh, I'm sure," he said, much more cheerfully than he was feeling. How dare that little country-bumpkin badmouth him to her mother?

Ebine walked into the small kitchen with Edel, and the two began putting away their groceries. "I assume Tutu and Ahiru are here as well?" Edel asked, her voice much less emotive than that of her wife's.

Femio nodded. "Yes-" he paused, inhaling sharply at the look she gave him over her shoulder. "-Madame. Th-they're getting ready to go to yoga, and I'm joining this time."

"Sounds fun!" Ebine butted in. She turned to see Femio still standing, somewhat awkwardly, in front of the kitchen. "Oh! You can sit in the living room if you'd like, dear!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Becker," Femio nodded, taking a couple of steps back to sit on the couch. His posture was still rigid, and his gaze shifted to the hallway he assumed Tutu and Ahiru's rooms were located, trying to telepathically plead with them to come back out.

After a few moments, Ebine made her way into the living room with a glass of water for him. "Here you go, dear!" She said, sitting down on the loveseat opposite to him.

"Thank you, ma'am." He said, graciously taking a long drink from the cold glass.

"So, how long have you known our little Ahiru?" she asked, making friendly conversation.

Femio had to think for a moment. "We've been training for about a month, I believe."

"You didn't know her before then?" Ebine asked, her smile never faltering.

Femio's mind recalled a few incidents in school. "I don't think so, not very well anyway," he said uneasily.

"I see," Ebine paused. "Then you missed out on her prime years!" She got up and walked over to the bookcase, pulling out a light blue scrapbook. On the front was a grumpy-looking baby with bright orange locks and watery blue eyes. Underneath the picture, in swirling letters was 'Ahiru Arima Becker.' Ebine sat down right beside Femio and opened up the baby-book with a smile. "Our little duck was always such a fussy girl. She could never settle down."

Ebine flipped open the book, showing off pictures of a little baby Ahiru in a yellow duck onesie, her orange eyebrows pushed together in anger as she appeared to be swatting at the camera. Femio couldn't help the small chuckle that fell from his lips.

The page turned again, showing Ahiru sitting in a highchair, various splashes of food on her face, her bib, and all over the high chair. Her eyes were bright as a toothless smile stretched across her lips, and the picture must have been captured mid-giggle. In the background, the blurred figure of a bearded man was present, his arms out as if he was walking over to pick up the messy toddler. In the next picture, the same brown-haired, bearded and kindly smiling man was holding the small Ahiru above his head. He was laughing heartily, evident by the wrinkles by his soft eyes and the bright smile stretching across his lips.

Femio pointed him out. "Who's that?" he asked, looking up at Ebine innocently.

"Ah, that's Tutu and Ahiru's father, Omoto. Happy, wasn't he? That's where the two of them got their blue eyes." Ebine's smile turned into a sad one, and Edel walked over to place a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder.

The page flipped before Femio could comment, showing a picture of toddler-Ahiru in a bathtub full of bubbles. She was smiling at the camera and clutching a rubber duck in her tiny fist. She had suds on her head, and on her face, fashioned into a very stylish beard and pompadour. Just as Femio was getting a good look, a small smile on his face, a door somewhere shut and the soft padding of Ahiru's feet burst forth from the back of the house, Tutu following close behind.

"Alright, let's go," Ahiru said, before stopping dead in her tracks behind the couch. Her eyes opened in horror at seeing what her mother was showing Femio. "Mom!" she gasped, practically throwing herself over the couch to slam the book closed. She held the book tightly against her chest, an embarrassed blush darkening her cheeks as Ebine laughed at her daughter's overreaction.

"Calm down, dear! I was just showing him your beautiful baby pictures," Ebine hid her further giggles behind her hand.

Ahiru huffed and set the book down on the end table, grabbing Femio by the wrist and dragging him from the house.

Tutu stayed behind for a moment to say goodbye to their mother's before joining the two teenagers on the sidewalk. Ahiru was still gripping Femio's wrist and dragging him down the street. Tutu couldn't help but chuckle at the two.

What an interesting pair.

* * *

**AN: **Imma be real with you chief... i did not proofread this at all before slapping that post button, so apologies for any grammatical errors.


	9. Chapter 9: Trust Exorcisms

At last, Femio and Ahiru's short program was polished enough for their coaches to reveal the next step in their race for gold: the free program. The free program has its own specifications, just like the short program before it. It had to be four minutes in length, have three lifts, one twist lift, one solo jump, one jump sequence, one pair spin combination, and one death spiral, as well as the choreographed step sequence.

As you must know, dearest reader, the free program has about the same necessities that the short program had. And you must also believe, reader, that one who was able to skate a short program should surely have little to no difficulty doing the same in the free skate. Unfortunately this assumption, while not done in ill will, was sorely incorrect.

Old problems that were once thought to be discarded, resurfaced with a vengeance-and they were livid as fresh wound. And while Femio and Ahiru stood shouting at each other, each in the process of winning and losing their own battles, this fact became much more apparent to their haggard coaches.

"I'm sorry you can't manage any jumps higher than a double, but if you were planning on bringing me down with you, you should have said that up front!" Femio shouted, his arms crossed, leaning down so his face was level with what he considered to be a 'thorn in his side' personified.

"At least I'm in time with the music! You're skating like a depressed elephant! This is a swing song, you're supposed to dance like you actually have a soul!" Ahiru shouted back, hands on her hips, body angled back so as to not be close to the mocking face of her competitor. Teammate. Whatever!

"Yeah, it's a _swing_ song, so why are you always stiff as a board?" Femio couldn't help the smirk that spread across his treacherous lips.

Ahiru's own lips pressed into a wobbly, thin line before shouting out in exasperation. "You're insufferable!"

At this point, it was quite clear to Femio that he had overcome Ahiru's scathing tongue and won this battle, one among many. His smirk widened, his hand lifting for him to inspect his perfectly manicured nails. "Oh is that so? You make that sound like it's a bad thing!"

Ahiru's mouth flapped a few times, looking for a response that could counter his confidence, but before she could really get the words out a very familiar shout from Fakir rang out, "Stop fighting and start skating!"

Ahiru flinched, and Femio dropped his arms back down to his sides. Both turned from each other to face their coaches.

"Can we please just get through one practice without you two trying to kill each other?" Fakir asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He paused and looked up at the two sheepish-looking teenagers. "Whatever, just start up the music again." At this, he looked towards Tutu.

"And if you mess up, just keep going! We'd like for you to get all the way through the program at least once, so you can fully grasp all of the components," Tutu continued with her signature smile before tapping the screen of her phone and starting the music again.

Again, it was not long before the two skaters were stopped and shouting at each other. The music, again paused and the progress stopped. The children, arguing about something that doesn't matter once again. And the adults, with headaches growing by the minute.

"You know what, this practice has been dragging on for a while! Maybe what we need is a little break?" Tutu said, trying to stay cheerful for the three others that were staring at her as if she just grew a third head.

"We just sta-" Femio started, but was quickly steamrolled by Tutu again.

"Instead, we should do something else for a little bit! Something that'll help us all relax and then we will come back and try again!" She continued, pulling the cord that was connected to a pair of speakers from her phone. "I'll let you two get changed, and Fakir and I will be waiting in the front, okay?"

Slowly, Ahiru and Femio skated over, both with an unsettled feeling as if it was all just a trap. They walked to their respective changing rooms, and the coaches made their way to the front of the ice rink. Upon walking out into the shining sun, Fakir couldn't help but reach into his pocket and dig out a pack of cigarettes, smoothly putting one into his mouth and lighting it up. It was a horrible habit, but he couldn't help it. He didn't even really realize he was doing it until he looked toward Tutu and saw her nose wrinkle in disgust at the smell of the smoke.

"Shit," Fakir started, quickly flicking out the ashes and shoving the half smoked cigarette back into the pack. "Sorry."

Tutu's hand waved in front of her face, as a motion of dismissal as well as to clear the smoke around her head. "It's okay, I just didn't know you were a smoker."

"I don't do it all that often, just when I'm a little stressed. Anyhow, why'd you end the practice so suddenly? Got something in mind for them?" He asked, his hand tucked in his pocket as he fidgeted with his lighter.

Tutu chuckled. "Something like that. Hoping to get some trust building activities in, but I won't let them know that until we get there, otherwise they might try to run away."

Fakir couldn't help but chuckle at that as well. "Yeah, no kidding. Good idea. Much better than locking them in the locker room together." Tutu started laughing, having forgotten about that fiasco.

"Goodness, you're right. What were we thinking?"

"I'm not quite sure," Fakir replied, his lips turned up in a small smirk.

Tutu sighed, still smiling. "By the way," she started, turning towards him, "Can we use your car for this? It's a little far to walk."

Fakir nodded. "Of course, just be gentle with her." He handed her his keys, and she pocketed them just as they started to hear their disciples walking through the lobby towards the exit.

It was obvious when Ahiru and Femio were both done getting dressed, as whatever argument they left off on on the ice had been picked up again and they were still fighting with each other as they made their way towards their coaches.

They managed to silence themselves as they stepped outside, but the air was thick with tension, not to mention the midsummer heat that clung to their skin uncomfortably. "Hey Tu, where are we going anyway?" Ahiru asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder, semi-purposely hitting Femio with it as she did so. Ahiru had changed back into what she had worn when they first arrived in the ice rink: a pair of denim shorts, and a yellow t-shirt tucked into her pants, which had a small duck embroidered on the front pocket. Her orange and white striped socks were folded down, pulled up inches above her orange tennis shoes.

In contrast to Ahiru's casual outfit, Femio was dressed to the nines. With a plum colored silk button up shirt rolled up at the sleeves with the top button fashionably left undone, and a white scarf looped loosely around his neck, the sides both hanging down his chest and gently moving with the breeze. He also had on a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, cuffed to show whatever name branded socks and shoes he was wearing with the outfit. Upon stepping out, he pulled out a pair of designer sunglasses to complete the outfit and keep the sun off his sensitive lavender-colored eyes.

"You'll see when we get there," her sister said mysteriously, swinging the ring of keys given to her around her finger as she led them to Fakir's car.

With Tutu in the front, and Fakir soon occupying the passenger seat, Ahiru and Femio were forced to sit in the backseat together, both teenagers childishly sitting as far away from the middle as possible.

Tutu turned on the radio, switching it to some station that was playing the top 40s, mostly just to fill the silence. It seemed that after all of the shouting Femio and Ahiru had finally exhausted their insults and digs and decided to just go silent instead. Therefore, the drive was extremely awkward for all participants.

The slowing and eventual parking and turning off of the aforementioned car was like a breath of fresh air for the four of them. Each stepped out of the car and stretched, feeling as though they were in that car for hours. As Fakir stretched his arms above his head, Ahiru got a tantalizing peek of his tanned midriff, and quickly turned her head away in embarrassment. When her eyes refocused, they widened in surprise, noting the sign in front of the wooded area they had pulled up to.

"Rock climbing, obstacle course, and zip-lining… Tu, what are we doing here?" The young redhead asked, somewhat fearfully.

Tutu smiled joyously, clapping her hands together. "I'm so glad you asked, dearest sister of mine! You see, this is a wonderful place that will help us keep the peace within our little group. Before we walk up, I'm sure you've already guessed what our pairs will be."

Fakir couldn't help but chuckle, quickly covering it up with a cough behind his fist when he was met with questioning stares.

Ahiru quickly turned her pleading blue eyes upon her sister. Her entire face said, "please don't make me do this," while her mouth opened to reiterate, "please don't make me do this."

Tutu chuckled and swung her arm around her young sister, smiling. "It'll be fun! Don't worry so much! Plus, it's summer break! Time to get out of the office and have some fun!" Tutu chuckled, and walked on ahead towards the directory, flanked by Fakir. Leaving Ahiru and Femio to catch up with their adult comrades.

By the time they caught up, Tutu was already in their office of sorts, speaking to the person behind the desk. Who, just as Femio and Ahiru walked over, pulled out the harnesses they'd be wearing. "So, as I was saying, what we have is one large obstacle course featuring rock climbing, agilities course over a mud pit, and a very long and enjoyable zipline at the end! Along with that, per the package you purchased, we will be doing a variety of trust building exercises that will work between your pairs and together as a group."

Femio was turning at the mention of mud and having to work with Ahiru, but Fakir had already grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt to keep him from attempting to run. "Augh, be careful manhandling my shirt, please! This silk was imported from Spain and-"

"I don't care," Fakir bit out, silencing his cousin immediately, the younger boy pouting indignantly, causing Ahiru to snicker behind her hand.

Tutu placed her arm behind her sister's back, stopping her from getting any similar ideas of escaping. Ahiru soon found herself pouting along with her partner.

The quartet soon made their way towards the actual course, led by their guide, and it was when they were about to start getting into their harnesses that Tutu turned with a mischievous grin. "So, I forgot to mention something! We'll be going through the whole obstacle course _tethered_ to a partner!" At this, she grabbed Fakir's arm to keep Ahiru or Femio from attempting to pick a family member as a partner. "And coaches together and players together, no buts!"

The two teenagers looked at their coaches with horrified expressions, before slowly looking at each other. "Nope, I refuse! I would rather walk home!" Femio cried, but again Fakir was right there to stop him from bolting.

"No refunds." Fakir grunted. "And Tutu and I already paid."

Femio sighed dramatically, crossing his arms. "Fine."

Ahiru, for once, was more refined than Femio and kept her dissenting opinion to herself. Mostly because she couldn't wait to see him covered in mud and crying.

Femio was being made to discard his expensive button up, leaving him in a black undershirt, as he and the others were all being strapped into harnesses. He was forced to leave it with the front desk, because neither Fakir nor Tutu trusted him to run back to the car alone, and no one else would go with him. "Please be very careful, this silk is hand woven and hand dyed from Spain-" he wasn't able to finish his care instructions, for Fakir was dragging him away.

Their guide stopped them in front of the first part of their journey. "Oh, jeez! I can't believe I almost forgot!" She spun around with a smile lightening her brown eyes. "My name is Hermia, and I'll be your guide today! The first part of your team building exercise starts with a blind obstacle course, in which one of you will be blindfolded and the other will give directions!" She said, stepping aside to show the obstacle course which consisted of a couple of pathways marked with long wooden poses laying horizontally. Further up there were a couple of things to jump over, after which was a portion where they'd have to avoid swinging posts, over a narrow stretch of walkway that was surrounded by mud. From what they could see that looked like the end, and Ahiru was already attempting to formulate a plan that ended with Femio in the mud without getting any on herself.

From her pocket, Hermia pulled out two blindfolds, handing them off to the two groups. Ahiru held the blindfold and turned to Femio to attempt to hand it to him, causing the two of them to start arguing over who would get to lead. Fakir quickly stepped in, coin in hand. "Heads is Ahiru leads, tails is Femio leads, _no_ arguing about the outcome," he said gruffly. Before either had a chance to speak up he flipped the coin into the air, caught it, and set it down on the back of his other hand. Pulling his hand away, the shiny surface revealed itself to the onlookers.

Tails.

Ahiru's face scrunched up with the need to bed for a re-toss, but she knew Fakir well enough by now that his word was final, and she donned the blindfold with at least some of her pride still intact.

Tutu and Fakir went first, with Fakir leading and Tutu blindfolded, just so that they'd be at the end in case either Femio or Ahiru got hurt or in another argument. Ahiru pulled the blindfold up to rest on the top of her head while she watched them breeze through the obstacle course. One thing she quickly took note of was how close the two of them had to stand in order to get through the part with the swinging posts without getting clotheslined by their own tether. Even though Ahiru and Femio had been skating together for a couple of months now, doing moves which required them to be near and touching, the thought of doing it outside of the ice made her shudder. The shudder was from disgust, she hoped.

Once Tutu and Fakir were safely to the other side, Ahiru pulled the blindfold back over her eyes and took a couple steps forward. She cursed herself for not memorizing the course before starting, but it was too late now. At any rate, she definitely didn't trust Femio to give good directions, so she started walking before he told her to, figuring that the path would just start normally. Instead she found her foot connecting with a wooden step, and in a dizzying moment she was falling towards the hard ground, stopped only by a harsh tug on the strap connecting her harness to Femio's.

"How ladylike of you to trip before we've even started," Femio said sarcastically, his voice conveying his grin.

"Just, shut up and give me the directions," Ahiru grumbled, crossing her arms.

"How can I both shut up and give directions?" Femio asked with a shit-eating grin.

"If I knew where you were I'd hit you," Ahiru warned, but huffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever, will you please just start directing."

"It would be my pleasure," Femio said with his natural flair, beginning with, "Step over the stair."

"Okay…" Ahiru lifted her foot, placing it on the step and walking over it.

"Now walk forward about 5 paces."

Ahiru started walking, but quickly stopped due to her forehead hitting some kind of post, and she quickly stumbled back, turning and jerking the blindfold from her eyes. "Femio, what the hell?"

Femio snickered, "As much as I'd love to take credit for that, you're the one who walked further than I told you to." He tugged the blindfold back over her eyes, loving this activity more than he'd like to admit. "No cheating~"

"Ugh, whatever! Get back to directing."

"Yes, yes, whatever. Sharp left and 6 _normal_ paces," Femio said.

Ahiru turned, and took six steps before stopping, finally deciding that it was a lot less exhausting to just do as he said.

"Now a curved right turn."

Ahiru turned right, and ran into the post again. "Femio!" She shouted.

"I said a curved right, you turned sharply. That's not my fault."

"I can't wait until this is over," Ahiru grumbled, turning a bit and continuing to walk forward.

"Sharp right," Femio commanded, and once Ahiru did so and walked a couple feet forward. "Another sharp right."

"Are you just leading me in circles?" Ahiru asked incredulously.

"I wish I was, but I'm just following the maze. Stop complaining so much, it's not like you're completely being led astray. Just trust me for once, you cad."

"You're making very hard to do so," Ahiru replied, but dropped it and just listened to his directions.

She had to turn left again, and walked a lot longer than she had before and it was beginning to make her nervous Luckily, soon Femio told her that she should be stepping over something a foot tall in about 2 paces. Ahiru managed to do it without falling or running into something. They traversed further before coming to where she had to duck under a pole to go further. They were actually going at a fast pace once they stopped arguing at every turn.

"Okay now the pathway narrows, so you're going to need to step to the right a little more."

Ahiru took a couple steps to the right, overshooting it a little. "Like this?"

"Too far."

She took two steps to the left, again going too far.

"No, just…" Femio, almost out of instinct, laid his hands on her hips and shifted her to the side. "There." Ahiru blushed, but for once kept her mouth shut. "Now walk forward three steps, but do it slowly, toe to heel. The path narrows." Femio didn't move his hands, to keep her from veering and pulling them both down. "Those swinging posts are coming up soon, so I'm going to tell you when to stop and when to go."

The redhead nodded, and she could feel the heat of his hands burning through her linen shirt. They took a couple of steps forward, slowly. They paused, then Femio said "Go!" And Ahiru jumped forward, and stopped when Femio said to. This worked a couple of times before Ahiru didn't jump fast enough, and nothing happened at first until she felt a jerk from her cord and she was sent falling into the pit of mud. She quickly ripped the blindfold from her eyes, and found both herself and Femio covered in mud and only feet away from the end. "Femio you dumbass!"

"Me?! You're the one who didn't follow my directions!"

"Maybe if you hadn't dropped me during last practice I'd be inclined to trust you a little more!"

"Oh, you're _still_ bringing that up?!"

"It's hard not to when I can still feel the pain in my ankle when I step on it wrong!"

"You always step on it wrong you left-footed-"

"You two, stop fighting and get up! We still have more to do," Fakir shouted at the pair, silencing their bickering for now. Ahiru and Femio trudged their way to the finish line, muddied and in sullied moods.

"Uh… Anyway!" Hermia started, her smile not faltering. "Next up is our partners rock-climbing wall! You'll have to communicate and help each other if you want to get up first!"

The two pairs looked up at the sizable rock-wall that had cute multi-colored plastic bits that were assumed to be used for the purpose of climbing.

Ahiru gulped. "That looks like a pretty high wall, huh?"

Before she could interject, she was being hooked to the rope that was supposed to keep her safe, not that _anyone_ could be safe on that gigantic wall.

"And once you're up there, there's a zip-line to finish!"

With that statement, Ahiru felt her stomach drop into her feet. "Zip...line…?"

Tutu placed her hand on her sisters back, partly for comfort and partly to make sure Ahiru wouldn't try to run away. "Ahiru, it'll be fine."

The redhead bit her lip, eyes darting from the rock climbing wall, to her sister before sighing. "Fine, but if I die I'm haunting all of you."

That made Fakir chuckle, which in turn made Ahiru blush.

With that, they set off. Again with Tutu and Fakir going first and scaling the wall like it was nothing. Ahiru made Femio start first, and when there wasn't enough give to the rope connecting them left, she finally started climbing up after him. Carefully she notched each foot in the footholds and held tightly to the pegs with her hands as they climbed together, soon nearing the top.

And then Ahiru made the mistake of peeking down, to see how far up they were. She felt her vision go blurry and her hands start to slack on the rocks. Femio looked down at her in time to grab her hand as it started to slip. "Ahiru, snap out of it!" He shouted, and she shook her head, looking up at him.

Tears welled up in her baby-blue eyes, and her bottom lip began to tremble. "F-Femio, I'm scared-!" She couldn't believe she was showing vulnerability around this clod, but she couldn't help it. He was the only one stopping her from falling.

"Ahiru, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Can you do that?" For once his voice wasn't carrying that undertone of teasing, he was being genuine. Ahiru nodded, and did as he instructed. "Now can you count down from ten for me?" She did so, and soon felt herself relaxing somewhat. Femio was… helping her? When her eyes opened, Femio was actually smiling at her, too. "Now c'mon, we've only got a little bit left."

Ahiru couldn't help the small smile that stretched her lips, and she nodded, climbing further. It wasn't long before they were at the top, Femio helping her all the way up. When the four of them were up there, mysteriously Hermia was up there as well.

The brunette helped them into the zipline gear, sending Fakir and Tutu together first, then waiting for a couple of minutes before sending Femio and Ahiru next. They were strapped together, and Ahiru was expecting to hate every second of it, but… It wasn't that bad. Save for feeling like she was going to die the whole time, and letting everyone else know with her screams, it was pretty pleasant. The zipline send them sailing at top speed, and Ahiru shut her eyes tightly, every bit of her body clenched and ready for death. But they slowed down soon, above a ledge where they got off.

In her adrenaline, upon being released from the harness, jumped into a hug with Femio. "We lived! We lived!" she shouted, squeezing him tightly. Upon the adrenaline wearing off, however, she quickly leapt away as if burned, a deep blush lighting her cheeks. "Uh, sorry," she mumbled in embarrassment, but Femio didn't comment. He was blushing too, not that he'd admit it.

After that, the four of them walked back to the car in different stages of exhaustion. Tutu less than everyone else, because she was an eternal ray of sunshine, Fakir only a little more than her because of his innate stamina. Though he did seem to be limping a little more prominently than usual, no one commented because they didn't want to die by his hand.

Femio and Ahiru were both equally exhausted because they weren't used to such a turbulent day, and upon sitting down in the car, collapsed onto each other and were asleep in minutes. Ahiru's head rested on Femio's shoulder, and his head rested atop her's. Tutu viewed the sight with a smile, happy that-even though they were asleep-they weren't fighting for once.

Fakir gazed at them, something confusing stirring in his stomach. He was, of course, relieved that they weren't causing another headache for him, but seeing Ahiru snuggled up so closely to his flaky cousin… He had to brush that thought off, thinking that he was just looking out for his cousin. Ahiru was too hot headed to be a good match for his-secretly-soft-hearted cousin. That was it, for sure. Had nothing to do with how amusing Ahiru's outbursts could be, and how cute she was when she pouted after a fight. Nope, nothing to do with it.

It was truly an interesting day.

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**AN:** Look its almost 2am, i've been working on this chapter for 5 months, I _really_ dont feel like reading it over right now. So sorry if there are any mistakes! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review~


	10. Chapter 10: Costumes and Connections

Tutu was pleasantly surprised to find that her idea for team building exercise actually seemed to work. In a way, that is. Femio and Ahiru still fought during every practice, but something in the air was different. They weren't fighting out of malice, anymore. There was no ill intent in their words, it was like they were fighting because they felt they _had_ to, and in Tutu's book that was a huge step forward.

So, the free program. First thing's first, the music Femio and Ahiru are skating to is a swing song by the name of 'Bei Mir Bist Du Schon' the version which is performed by Ingrid Lucia & The Flying Neutrinos. Yes that detail is important.

With all of their practicing, Ahiru and Femio had managed to finally get through the whole free program with minimal mistakes. Still, it was never good enough for their grumpy coach, Fakir. "Do it again. Ahiru, stop popping your fucking jumps. Femio, please dance with a little bit more soul next time. I know that the steps are difficult but if you want to win gold in this century, I'd suggest stepping up and fucking learning them."

Ahiru huffed, and kicked up some ice with her skate, swearing under her breath.

They skated back to the middle of the empty rink. "This is such bull," Femio grumbled. "My dancing is _not_ soulless, he just hasn't seen good dancing in decades."

"Femio, shut up before he yells at us again," Ahiru said, nudging him as they got in position.

The song itself started slow but jumped into an upbeat song that was good for lively dancing. Their dance was a story, similar to their short program- Tutu had explained this while teaching them the steps in her ballet studio. While their short program was about Femio chasing Ahiru until she succumbed, their long program followed Ahiru chasing Femio until he felt the same.

Since the song itself was a female-voice singing about how much she loved another (presumably) male person, it was an easy story to follow. So, they started with the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder in the center of the ice, but facing opposite directions. Femio's head was turned away from Ahiru, his arms crossed, and Ahiru had her head turned towards Femio, her hands clasped in front of her. When the music started, Ahiru bumped her hip into Femio's causing him to fake-stumble. He skated away, and she followed him, both of them bouncing a little to the music. Ahiru caught up, grabbing Femio by the hands and pulling him with her. She was skating backwards, the two of them kicking their legs out along to the beat.

Femio went along with the dance before spinning her close, his hands on her hips as he pulled her closer. He lifted her, turning and tossing her into a spin. Right now, they were practicing with lower difficulty jumps just to get the feel of the choreography. When Ahiru landed, she stopped with her hands on her hips, a foot stomp, and skated towards him again. They met back up in the center, dancing a seperate-but-in-sync step sequence, before turning with both of them smiling at each other, hands connecting as they finished the step sequence together.

By this point, it will be considered the second half of the program, where their jumps get an added modifier. Such as with their first skate, most of their point-earning jumps and spins were left to the second half for this sole purpose.

To flow well out of their step sequence, they have planned a quad of some type, with them practicing with a double for now. They continued on, with their required amounts of moves, ending in a "classic" swing post, hands clasped and pulling away with their arms out. Ahiru and Femio were both out of breath, waiting for the music to stop to let go and nearly collapse on the ice.

Tutu turned off the music, clapping for them. "Good job guys, that was _much_ better!"

"It was alright," Fakir interrupted, his eternal scowl still pressed to his face. "Do you want to tell them, or should I?"

Ahiru and Femio shared a look, both fearing they were going to announce another team building getaway. Tutu motioned for them to come closer, so they both skated towards the short wall separating them.

"Soooo," Tutu started, drumming her hands on the partition. "We've signed you guys up for a practice competition!"

"What?!" Femio and Ahiru exclaimed simultaneously. They each scrunched their noses up at the other, taking a small step away.

"Don't you think it's too soon-"

"-We've barely started practicing-"

"-Ahiru can't even land that one-"

"-Femio is still dancing like a-"

"-That brute-ish girl hasn't even-"

"-Mr Conceited Prick couldn't-"

Fakir interrupted their overlapping arguments with a puncturing and concise, "Shut up!"

Ahiru and Femio both immediately shut their mouths, Ahiru pouting a little.

Tutu let out a nervous laugh. "...Anyway! It's time you guys shook off your competition jitters, and we don't want to do that at a bigger one! It's about a week away, and it will mean absolutely nothing! We're doing this so that you two get experience as a pair."

"But, we don't even have costumes yet!" Ahiru exclaimed, to which her sister had a brighter smile in response.

"That's the second thing on our agenda! You both had your measurements taken last week, and we've just received your costumes from the tailor!" Tutu held up a couple of bags which were assumed to be holding their new costumes. Ahiru felt a jump of excitement. She never really felt immersed in a role unless she was wearing the costume to go with it.

Femio and Ahiru exited the ice, taking their assigned costumes and walking to the back to try them on. "Start with the Romeo and Juliet ones, please! They should be labelled." Tutu called to their receding forms.

Ahiru stepped out first, and their coaches figured Femio was fussing with the costume inside his own locker room. Her outfit was primarily reds and golds, with a small bit of white. It was done in the style of most iterations of dresses Juliet would have worn, with the "waist" seam falling below her bust with a small corset-look, with the outer portion being red and with gold accents, the the center panel being white, and the strings of the corset were a light pink. The sleeves were adequately called a 'Juliet sleeve', characterized with a puff and an otherwise tight, long sleeve. The centre front of the dress was white and fell just at the top of Ahiru's thigh, and the side panels of the dress, which fell from the 'waist' seam, stopped a couple inches below the center part of the dress. She wore pale pink tights, and the costume came with a flower crown of small purple roses.

Tutu nearly squealed at the sight of her adorable little sister, who was blushing already. Tutu turned to see Fakir's reaction, and saw that he had his hand covering his mouth and his head was turned away as a dark blush colored his cheeks. Her lips turned up, and when she turned back to her sister, Femio had joined them. His outfit was characterized by a regal-looking, royal purple and lavender tunic made of a material that was reminiscent of crushed velvet. The sleeves were sheer with gemstones inlaid in the material, falling to flair at the wrist. The chest of the tunic was cut into a deep V, with that sheer material covering the space where his skin would otherwise show. It was half laced with silver strings, and on either side of the V were silver embellishments. His pants were simple silver-colored tights. His outfit came with a flower crown similar to Ahiru's, with small red roses.

Femio twisted this way and that, inspecting the outfit. "It's alright." he commented. "A little more flair would have been nice-" before the lad could get into insulting whatever he was about to, Tutu cut him off.

"Let's get a picture!" She said, a little loudly as she pulled out her phone. Ahiru and Femio glanced at each other and turned their heads back to Tutu expectantly, as if she was going to take the picture with them standing so many feet apart. "Get in closer, you guys are a partnership! I'm going to put this on my Insta, so the others can see what they're up against!"

"The others…?" Ahiru looked up at Femio.

"...Up against?" Femio returned her gaze. They both had the same thought: if they looked like a bad pair, people would _talk, _and there was nothing worse for the turbulent pair than whispers about their chemistry. "How about something dazzling, hm?"

Femio caught Ahiru's hand, pulling her into a spin and dipping her low, smiling all the while. Ahiru felt her heart attempt to jump out of her chest, her wide eyes flicking from his eyes to his lips and back and in a dizzying moment she wondered why she felt so lightheaded. His hand on her back was warm, sending tingles through her skin- and she was snapped back into reality by the sound of a camera clicking, snapping pictures of them.

"That was perfect!" Tutu cheered, her eyes casting towards Fakir in the hopes of getting an agreement. Fakir looked more irritated than usual, only grunting in response. "Um… You should go try on the other costumes, they should be labeled 'swing'!"

When Femio and Ahiru walked off, Tutu turned to Fakir, placing a hand on his arm. "Everything alright? Did you not like the costumes?"

"They're fine." Fakir's arms were crossed over his chest.

Tutu let out a small, frustrated sigh. Fakir was a tough nut to crack. "What's bothering you?"

The man was silent for a long moment. And a longer moment. All while Tutu waited patiently for him to answer.

"Don't you think they're getting too close?" He finally asked.

Tutu blinked a few times in confusion, before she realized what he meant. "I think that it's natural, considering how much time we've all spent together."

Before Fakir could reply to that, Ahiru had returned. Her outfit consisted of a midnight blue piece, that was somewhat low cut, with mesh-like fabric covering what would otherwise be exposed, the top of which ended in a short-sleeved little puff, a band of the midnight-blue fabric cuffing the end of the sleeve with a twinkling cufflink. Rhinestones were inlaid in the mesh-fabric, flashy but not so showy as to make Ahiru feel uncomfortable.

"Oh, Ahiru it looks lovely!" Tutu cried, her hands clapping together. Fakir grunted beside her, eyes scanning Ahiru's form.

"It's a little flashy." The man muttered, as Femio exited the dressing room as well. He had what looked like a similarly colored midnight blue button-up, but it was made of a stretchy material and covered in glitter. Along with that was a high waisted pair of spandex pants, dark, with a mesh band over his waist that looked, all in all, like he was wearing a suit from the 20s, minus the blazer. An untied bowtie hung loosely around his neck, and he was admiring his reflection.

"Don't listen to him, Duck, you look lovely. We can pop off a couple of the rhinestones if you think it's too flashy, though." Tutu said, waving her hand.

Ahiru looked at her reflection in the glass partition on the rink border. It _was_ much flashier than she'd ever have worn before. But… she liked it. Something about watching Femio ogle himself and his flashiness made her want to feel that way too. "No, no I like it. I think it looks good."

Her and Femio didn't have to be told to post as soon as Tutu pulled out her phone, as Femio spun her and dipped her low, striking a bunch of swing-reminiscent poses for their Instagram.

"That was perfect, guys!" Tutu said excitedly. "Go back and change, and then I think we should be done for the evening!"

Ahiru glanced at Femio, who glanced at her, and without another word, they left to change. Things were still chilly but… they weren't fighting. And that had to mean something.

…

The rink was empty and silent, save for the scraping sound of ice skates on the otherwise unmarked ice. A single overhead light illuminated one, orange hair girl as she languidly skated around the rink, her headphones playing a soft and romantic tune. Her arms moved to the rhythm of the love song, while she skated a slow circle around the rink. She was relaxed, in her element, and trying to work through the jumbled, complicated thoughts that were bouncing around in her overactive brain.

Femio had walked in because he forgot his bag- he hadn't meant to intrude on such a vulnerable moment for the girl, but he couldn't help but become mesmerized at the sight. This wasn't the girl who stomped around the ice with unsure feet, who hesitated before jumps, who was an insecure, graceless little duck.

Ahiru looked so peaceful. Until her eyes connected with Femio's.

And her face very, very slowly turned red as she realized that he'd seen her.

"H-How long have- have you been in here?" Ahiru asked, meekly. She hadn't the energy to even be mad properly.

"Um… just a couple minutes." Femio replied- unsure of how to react. He was prepared for her to yell at him, tell him to go away, something. Not… that.

They stared at each other for an awkward moment. It seemed as if neither of them really knew what to do when they weren't fighting and weren't practicing. "Um, do- do you want to join me? We don't have t-to do the program or anything."

Femio nodded slowly. "Sure..?" he said, dropping his bag and tugging on his skates. He joined her on the ice, accepting the wireless headphone that she'd offered. "Oh- you listen to them too? I'd never have thought we had the same taste in music."

"Ah, um, I usually just listen to this kinda stuff to clear my head. After a long day, I can change it if it's not something you think you can skate to-" She said quickly, grabbing for her phone to switch the song, and blushing when Femio's hands grasped her's to stop her.

"No- uh, no. I think it's fine." Femio said hurriedly, his own cheeks heating up. He felt so raw in front of her, sharing music, toning down his theatrics.

With that, she tucked her phone back in the pocket of her leggings and the two of them started to skate, still chatting occasionally. Sharing favorite songs, similar bands, bouncing off of that topic to other ones and for one night, forgetting how different they were from each other.

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**AN: **Sorry that this took so long, and that the chapter is shorter than you guys are used to! Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track sometime soon! Love yall, and as always comments and criticisms are welcome!


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